Getting to Burgh Island: The Sea Tractor, the Tide and the Timings

Short answer: At low tide you walk across the sandbar from Bigbury-on-Sea. When the tide covers it, a sea tractor on stilts carries you across through the water for about £2, with under-tens free. Check the tide — the two tides meet and cut the causeway faster than people expect.

The sea tractor is the point

Burgh Island sits just offshore from Bigbury-on-Sea, joined to the mainland by a sandbar that covers at high tide. When it does, a sea tractor — a genuinely strange vehicle on tall stilts with a passenger platform on top — drives across through the water carrying people over.

It costs around £2, children under ten travel free, and you can pay cash or cross and pay by card at the pub on the island. For a couple of pounds it is the most memorable few minutes available anywhere on this coast with children, and adults are just as taken with it.

Check the tide first

This is the warning worth taking seriously. At low tide the walk across the sand is easy and obvious. But the tide comes in from both sides and the two flows meet, which cuts the causeway off faster than people expect — visitors describe being caught out by exactly this.

It is not dangerous if you are paying attention; the sea tractor exists precisely for this. But check the tide table before you walk over, and know when the last crossing is if you are relying on the tractor to get back.

What is actually on the island

Less than people assume, and that is fine. The art deco hotel is for guests only — you cannot look round it. What you can do is walk right around the island and climb to the ruined chapel at the summit, which takes about an hour and has the best views on this stretch of coast.

The Pilchard Inn, a 14th-century pub, is the other reason to cross. Quirky interior, good beer, and a garden watching the sea tractor come and go. Outdoor drinks come in branded plastic with a £2 deposit, and it is priced for the location.

The beach you cross from

Bigbury Beach is worth the trip on its own — wide flat sand, a shallow incline, RNLI lifeguards, an accessible ramp down, toilets and a café. Two sections allow dogs. It faces west, which gives it the best sunsets in the South Hams.

Practical warnings

• Phone signal is poor and the main car park pays by app — bring cash or expect a fight.
• There is a lower car park with a cash ticket machine.
• The Agatha Christie connection is real — the island is the setting for two of her novels.
• Challaborough, the next bay north, has a beachfront bar if the island is cut off.