Press Trip
At the weekend, we escaped the heat on dry land and escaped for a couple of hours with City Cruises on their Jurassic Coastal Cruise, departing from Poole Quay at 10.30am. The weather was perfect – beautiful cloudless blue skies and the sun shining. I made sure to load the kids up with suncream before we left, and we took advantage of there being a bar on board, getting all the cold drinks and making a proper morning of it. The weather was so lovely, in fact, that I commented we could have been abroad.
The cruise takes you around Poole Harbour and Sandbanks before travelling a little further out, getting up close to Old Harry Rocks and Swanage, before turning back around and returning at a leisurely pace, all whilst being given the history and some interesting facts about the coastline and points of interest along the way by the knowledgeable captain. My cousin, who was with us as my eldest son was with his dad, absolutely lovely hearing all about pirate Harry Paye, after learning about him at school, and I had a good look at some of the millionaire’s properties as well sailed through Sandbanks.
There were noticeably lower numbers on board than previous times I’ve been on boat trips, which helped reassure me regarding the pandemic, although being on the top deck, which was open air, we didn’t need to wear face masks, which was lovely in the heat!
The children all really enjoyed themselves, and were pointing out the caves, rocks and enjoying waving to other people on boats during the journey. I would definitely recommend City Cruises to families, or those visiting the area with a young child, as it’s a great activity for any age.
If the Jurassic Coastal Cruise doesn’t sound appealing to you, there are plenty of other options departing from Poole to choose from. You can see more information and book online on the website.
I was gifted a family ticket for the trip featured in this post, however all words and images are my own.
