About

With over 80 years experience of operating in Blakeney Harbour, a trip to the Blakeney Seals with Beans Boats offers a rare opportunity to get ‘up close and personal ’ to the resident Grey seal and Common Seal colonies without causing disturbance.

After boarding one of our five custom ferries at Morston we head up Morston Creek and out into Blakeney Harbour. Relax and enjoy the beautiful Norfolk Coastline from the shelter of the harbour or keep an eye out for resident and migrating birds.

As Blakeney Point is one of the most important sites for migrating birds in Europe, there's plenty to see on our way to the Seal Colony. Passing the old Blakeney Lifeboat station our crew tell you something of the local history and about the harbour before you arrive at the end of Blakeney Point where Common and Grey Seals can usually be found hauled out. We spend time getting in close and turning to allow plenty of opportunity for photos; inquisitive seals will also frequently pop out around the boat!

Blakeney Point has become probably the most important breeding site for Grey Seals in the British Isles. Female Grey Seals deliver their pups late Autumn around mid November through December, with typically four to five thousand pups a visit to the breeding colony on the Point is one of the most exhilarating wildlife experiences anywhere in Britain and one not to be missed.

Blakeney Point is also famous for its bird life. Its most popular summer visitors are the terns - mainly Common, Sandwich and Little Terns and, quite often, also Arctic Terns. Many of them begin to arrive from West Africa during mid-April and breed into the season. They make a small scrape in the shingle where they lay their eggs. After hatching, the chicks can be seen running along the shoreline near the seals. You will be able to get a good view of them from the boat as well as of the other various shorebirds: Oyster Catcher, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, and Dunlin to name but a few. During the winter months, you will see large numbers of duck and geese including Mallard, Widgeon, Teal, Pintail, Pinkfooted Geese. Greylag and Brent Geese usually arrive from October onwards.

Our ferries (all licensed by the Maritime Coastguard Agency) depart from Morston Quay and trips to the Seals and Birds last for approximately an hour. Trips run every day throughout the season (1st April until 31st October) and regularly throughout the winter. As we are limited by tide times our departure times change daily and are mostly displayed on our timetable but we also run extra trips at busy times. Our fully trained and knowledgeable crew will be on hand during your trip to provide local information and answer any questions