WK_Jersey_1ed-15

From surfing and skydiving to fishing and golf, Jersey has a host of activities to keep you occupied.

Sports enthusiasts are spoilt for choice on Jersey, whether it’s on the water or ashore. In an effort to rejuvenate its image, the island has introduced a range of adventure sports in recent years. Along with the usual, long-established activities such as surfing and sailing, you can try out sports such as skydiving, blokarting, kiteboarding, abseiling and stand-up paddle-boarding. The Visit Jersey website (www.jersey.com) is packed with information on all the activities on the island and the companies which operate them.

Walking in Rozel Woods.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Jersey has a walk for every day of the year, from dramatic rugged cliffs to the leafy lanes of the interior. The island may be small, but it offers some surprisingly dramatic and varied scenery, particularly along the northern coastline. Here the footpath follows the coast for most of the way, dipping down to fishing villages where you can take a break at beachside cafés.

Guided Walks

The National Trust (www.nationaltrust.je) offers guided walks with emphasis on Jersey’s heritage and environment. Every year Visit Jersey hosts the Walking Through Spring and Walking Through Autumn walking festivals (May and September respectively), with walks for all abilities and ages (free for members, £10 per walk for non-members). Some of the walks celebrate food which is produced, grown or made in Jersey, for example oyster fishing, classic cattle, Jersey Royals, wine tasting or cheese production, or follow other themes.

Jersey Tourism publishes a free pamphlet with ideas for walks, from north coast walking routes to reservoir walks and ‘Ice Age’ trails, with a map provided. Specialist guided walks are numerous, with themes ranging from Victorian Jersey and World War II to the Oyster Trail and hidden gardens. One of the most fascinating is the “moonwalk”, taking you across the lunar-like seascape at the south-eastern tip of the island. This gigantic rock pool disappears below the sea twice a day. Information on guided walks can be found at www.jersey.com and for self-guided walks see www.nationaltrust.je/walks.

For self-guided walks, forget the car and get around the island with the help of the excellent bus service. Time tables are available from the tourist office or bus station in St Helier, or at www.libertybus.je. The best map is the Ordnance Survey Jersey Official Leisure Map. When exploring the coast, visitors should watch out for extreme tidal movement, one of the largest recorded in the world.

The Railway Walk

The now defunct Western Railway track, linking St Helier with St Aubin and later extended to La Corbière, has been turned into a foot and cycle path. This makes an enjoyable, unchallenging, tree-lined walk (or cycle ride) ending up at La Corbière, where you can walk out to the lighthouse providing the tide is not too high. If you do not want to make the return journey on foot, buses will take you back to St Aubin or St Helier.

The rural interior offers walks through woodlands, valleys and reservoirs. The path alongside Waterworks Valley, running north from Millbrook, follows the winding road past reservoirs and through wooded slopes. To the west, the Jersey War Tunnels (www.jerseywartunnels.com) is a good starting point for walks through attractive woodland along St Peter’s Valley. In the northeast of the island, there are delightful walks in the thickly wooded valley of Rozel Woods, between St Catherine’s Bay and St Martin’s Village. The path circling the Y-shaped Val de la Mare reservoir is an easy 3-mile (5km) walk, providing fine views of the distant St Ouen’s Bay from near the dam. Queen’s Valley Reservoir, west of Gorey, provides another pleasant, undemanding walk which takes you around the trout-filled waters.

Some of the finest walks are to be found in Jersey, both along the coast and inland.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

In June keen hikers flock to Jersey for the sponsored 48-mile (77km) Island Walk around the island. Expect to complete the course in anything between 12–21 hours. Funds go to Jersey charities – over the 31 years it has been taking place, the annual event has raised over £2.7 million in sponsorship.

No distance on Jersey is too far to cycle, and the network of quiet country lanes and coastal roads makes for pleasant, if at times strenuous, cycling. A 96-mile (155km) network has been established all over the island, and the clear signs along the way enable you to explore the winding lanes without constantly referring to maps. The routes take in the Green Lanes, where pedestrians, cyclists and horse-riders have priority over cars, and motorists must slow down to a sedate 15mph (24kmh). If a rural lane suddenly ceases to be a Green Lane, the probability is you have cycled across a parish boundary; two parishes (Trinity and St Saviour) are still resisting the Green Lane scheme.

Visitors who want to plan their own cycling itineraries should consult the Visit Jersey website (www.jersey.com) for detailed cycling routes. The Island Tourist Map includes cycle routes marking the coastal circuit, inland links and connections to various popular attractions.

St Ouen’s Bay, with its huge rollers and spacious sands, is a paradise for surfers. The first surf club to open here was the Jersey Surfboard Club (www.jerseysurfboardclub.com) – established in 1959 and one of the first in Europe. This and other clubs hire out surf equipment and offer tuition. You can also learn to kitesurf, propelling yourself at high speeds across the sea on a surfboard with a large controllable kite. The oldest surfing school on the island is Jersey Surf School (https://jerseysurfschool.co.uk), in La Braye.

Bodyboarding is hugely popular along the bay, from the old guard who still use wooden boards to youngsters in wetsuits with the latest gear. Equipment can be hired at any of the surf schools. The seas are rough, with rip tides and strong currents. Inexperienced surfers should always keep to the areas between flags, which are patrolled by lifeguards. Red flags indicate the conditions are dangerous.

Kitesurfing at St Ouen’s Bay.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Experienced windsurfers enjoy skimming along the sea at St Ouen’s, but the more sheltered bays of St Brelade’s Bay, St Aubin’s or Grouville are a lot more suitable for learners. The water sports centres on these bays also offer paddle-boarding, waterskiing, wakeboarding, banana rides, rowing boats and canoes.

Marinas and harbours have excellent facilities for sailors but beginners should beware of sunken reefs, big tides and strong currents. Experienced sailors can charter boats or join local regattas. For yacht charter, private skippered charter trips, catamaran island tours or learning to sail contact Go Sail (www.go-sail.je). Jersey Seafaris (www.jerseyseafaris.com) run rib boat tours out to Les Minquiers, which include the southernmost sandbank in the British Isles, as well as elsewhere.

Jersey’s clear waters, remote coves and rich marine life make for excellent kayaking and coasteering. The kayak specialists are Jersey Kayak Adventures (www.jerseykayakadventures.co.uk) who operate from beaches all over the island. Absolute Adventures (www.absoluteadventures.je) on St Brelade’s Bay organize coasteering, sea kayaking, blokarting (for which the broad sands at St Ouen’s Bay make a perfect location), wakeboarding and other adventure sports.

Sea kayaking in Jersey’s clear waters.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Sea bass, wrasse, grey mullet, bream, pollack and mackerel and occasionally conger eel are caught offshore. For deep-sea fishing trips, by day or night, contact David Nuth, tel: 01534-858 046 or 07797-728 316 (www.tarkaseatrips.com). The piers on the north coast are popular for rod fishing.

Cider barrels at Hamptonne Country Life Museum.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Leisure and Fitness

Keep in trim at Fitness First at the Waterfront Centre (www.fitnessfirstjersey.com) in St Helier, equipped with gym, sauna and steam room. The next door Aqua Splash (www.aquasplash.je) has a 25-metre, six-lane swimming pool, and outdoor pool with flumes, slides and diving area.

Casting off on the rocks at St Catherine’s Bay.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

For young children there are numerous rock pools where you can catch crabs, shrimps and devil fish. Every beach shop sells cheap nets and buckets. At St Aubin’s Bay during spring tides you can sprinkle salt on the keyhole-shaped burrow of razor fish and watch them pop up out of their holes.

The sea in Jersey is clean, visibility is good and marine life plentiful. Most of the diving takes place at Bouley Bay on the north coast, where the waters are particularly clear and conditions normally calm. The Bouley Bay Diving School (https://scubadivingjersey.com) is a PADI 5-star diving centre which welcomes divers of all standards, including beginners. More experienced divers can visit the wrecks of ships sunk in World War II and other vessels which have been scuttled to provide shelter for marine life.

Aqua Splash has indoor and outdoor pools.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

The water temperatures are on the cool side (averaging around 17°C/63°F in summer), which does have the advantage that the seas are crowd-free. The beaches are clean, with clear waters, but beware of currents and tides. The main beaches are surveyed by lifeguards during the season. The best beaches for youngsters are St Brelade’s, St Aubin and Grouville, where the sand shelves gently and the waters are normally calm. Beauport, west of St Brelade’s, accessed down a steep path, is one of the least crowded bays.

Playing soldiers on the assault course at Valley Adventure Centre.

Alamy

The island has six golf courses. Top of the list is the Royal Jersey Golf Club (www.royaljersey.com) beside Royal Grouville Bay. The club was founded in 1878 and was the training ground of Grouville-born Harry Vardon, six times winner of the British Open. You need proof of handicap to play here, as you do for La Moye Golf Club at St Brelade (www.lamoyegolfclub.co.uk), which has some stunning views of St Ouen’s Bay. Non-club members can play at the 18-hole Les Mielles Golf and Country Club (www.lesmielles.com), the 9-hole courses at Wheatlands, St Peter (www.wheatlandsjersey.com) or Les Ormes, St Brelade (www.lesormesjersey.co.uk).

A hole-in-one at the Royal Jersey Golf Club.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Valley Adventure Centre

This exhilarating activity centre (https://valleyadventure.je) is set in a natural green valley, and provides a host of adventurous pursuits for children and adults. You can try out aerial trekking, tower climbing and abseiling, zip wire, archery and axe-throwing – to name just a few.

Blokarting at St Ouen’s Bay.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications