Seal watching in Arthur Ransome’s ‘Secret Water’

Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex

Explore Walton’s ‘Secret Water’, the setting for Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons’ book.

Experience two hours of seal watching in the Walton Backwater under the guidance of an experienced boatman and naturalist.

During your trip, you will encounter common and grey seals, plus many other rare and beautiful birds and wildlife that live with the Hamford Water Nature Reserve.  The best way to see the seals is to take a trip on Tony Haggis’s boat Karina which can be booked in the summer months. Why not also go on one of their evening trips and you may encounter an enchanting Walton sunset.

While you are in the area why not go fossil hunting on the cliffs at Walton-on-the-Naze? They form one of the finest geological sites in Britain and for that reason are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). At the base of the cliffs is London Clay which is 54 million years old and it is overlaid with a sandy deposit called Red Crag (2 Million years old). This sandy deposit contains a large number of fossils including shells, sharks teeth and bird skeletons.

Content provided by Visit Essex

Read more Close

For more local tourist information:

Refine your search:

Common seals basking in the sunSeal watching in the Walton backwaters
Motor Vessel Karina taking you to watch the wildlife.Motor Vessel Karina
Common seal with cubSeal watching in the Walton backwaters
Other wildlife one can encounter on a trip with MV Karina.Wild life in the Walton backwaters

VisitEngland would like to invite you to take part in a short survey about our website, it should take no more than a couple of minutes.

Go to the survey

To add items to favourites …

… you need to be logged in.

If you already have an account, log in.

Or register a

Access your account

Enter your e-mail address or username.
Enter the password that accompanies your e-mail.
Forgot your password? Recover your account
Don't have an account? Register an account