Hilbre Islands: Advise and tips

My trip to the Hilbre Islands was amazing! I would highly recommend this as a great day out for all the family. Did you read the first and second blogs on this incredible little hidden gem?

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If you are considering a visit here, there are just a few important things you need to know in order to have a safe visit to the Islands, as well as some useful information.

Getting there

By public transport: Get the train to Liverpool Lime Street train station. From here you will catch the Merseyrail to West Kirby from platform A. Platform A is located underground of the station. The journey should take approximately 40 minutes. It is then approximately a short 4 to 5 minute walk from the station to West Kirby beach.

By Car: It is approximately a 30- minute drive from Liverpool, depending on which route you choose to take

Parking: I used public transport but I noticed there was plenty of side street parking for free and a section by the marina for around 20 cars which are free although,, it goes without saying you would have to arrive early to snatch up these spots. Other than this, there is pay and display parking all along the promenade.

The route you MUST take for a safe journey across

1 Start at Dee lane slipway

2 Walk straight to Little Eye which is the smallest of the Islands. Make sure you keep to the right, but straight.

3 From here turn right and walk to Middle Eye Island keeping on the sand

4 On middle eye next to the arch, there are some rough carved out steps. When you get to the top there is a path that will lead you to Hilbre Island.

*Important notes*

please try to avoid stepping on the rocks, if you need to do be extremely careful because some are very slippy (Don’t let small children walk alone)

Also Make sure you take this route and do not cross straight over to Hilbre Island from Hoylake

Please make sure you check the tide times before walking out

This is extremely important as the tide comes in very quickly, many people have had to be rescued off the island. I saw people walking over with small children at the time they should have been heading back.🤦🏽‍♀️.

All the information states to walk over 3 hours after high tide and return 3 hours before the next high tide.

There is a noticeboard on the beach informing you of when the tides are high and low. I wasn’t confident about this because I wasn’t sure if I should walk out at those times or wait 3 hours after the times shown.

I found this website incredibly useful. I can’t swim and this gave me the confidence to see if the tide was rising or falling and a clear understanding of when it was safe to walk.

What to wear

Wear a good pair of walking boots or wellies. Your feet will get wet and you will get full of soggy sand no matter how carefully you try to walk. Take spare socks, shoes and pants.

Make sure you wear or bring something warm the weather can change quickly here.

Take a beach towel to dry off

Where to get changed

If your in a car it will be easier for you to change. For those that are not, there is a Morrisons store near the beach with toilets where you can change.

I wore two pairs of leggings and two pairs of high socks, so I was able to just whip everything off on the beach and continue to wear the leggings from underneath.

Food and drinks

There are no shops or anything on the Island, so you may want to take something with you although, there are plenty of shops, cafés and restaurants not far from the beach.

As mentioned in the last post there are toilets, so not to worry if you need the bathroom whilst there.

A worthy mention

if you can, stick by to watch the tide come in. It’s quite fascinating that the beach is next to the marine lake, with only a narrow path separating the two. It looks as though people are walking on water from a distance.

Other useful websites

Hilbre Islands local nature reserve

Visit the Wirral

Don’t want to walk alone? Book a walking tour here

I hope this is helpful for anyone planning to visit.

Thank you for your visit today

Stay blessed 🙏🏾

Natalie ❤