Les Écréhous

Les Écréhous is a reef about ten kilometres northeast of Jersey towards the French coast, where a scatter of rocks and three larger islets carry a group of small stone huts, some built by fishermen and one by a nineteenth-century resident who declared himself king of the place. The tidal range is enormous: at low water the reef becomes a landscape of sand and rock, at high water almost all of it is gone.

What you actually see

• The huts - the stone buildings on the islets, some still used in summer.
• The tidal transformation - a reef that becomes a sandscape at low water.
• The clear water - the shallows over sand between the rocks.
• The French coast - Normandy visible across the water on clear days.

When to go

May to September is the boat season. Trips run to the tide rather than a timetable. Weather cancels crossings regularly.

Honest expectations

Trips run to the tide and can be cancelled at short notice. Time ashore is limited by the water coming back. There are no facilities of any kind on the reef.

Nearby

Rozel Bay is the usual departure point, and Jersey is southwest.