Norfolk, England

Morston Quay slipway

Launch — A National Trust slipway at Morston Quay, alongside a tidal hard the Trust also maintains here; the Blakeney Harbour Association describes the Morston slipway as less steep and gravelled, unlike Blakeney's steep concrete one.

Parking — A National Trust pay-and-display car park adjoins the quay, free for National Trust members and chargeable for others; the lower car park can flood on spring tides.

Access — The National Trust asks paddlers to launch from the hard rather than the slipway, which is kept clear for trailer boats. The quay is reached off the A149 through Morston village, on a lane that narrows with speed bumps; it also lies on the Norfolk Coast Path, and the Coasthopper bus stops in the village, a few minutes' walk away.

Season — The on-site café operates daily from February to December, with hours varying by weather; toilets are open all year. Blakeney Point closes to foot access each year from late October to early January, during grey seal pupping season.

Regulations — No licence or permit is required to launch here. The Blakeney Harbour Association, a voluntary charity rather than a statutory harbour authority, charges no fee for slipway use but asks for a voluntary donation, and sets a 5-knot speed limit in Morston Creek and the Blakeney Cut.

Morston Quay sits on Morston Creek, the busiest and deepest of four channels feeding the tidal saltmarsh harbour behind Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk coast, within Blakeney National Nature Reserve. Most of the harbour, including much of Blakeney Pit, dries out at low water, and offshore the shingle spit of Blakeney Point shelters it from the North Sea. The Point is home to England's largest grey seal colony, whose pup count reached 8,946 in 2023.

Blakeney Channel and Blakeney Point

The harbour runs roughly three miles east to west, from the entrance channels at Blakeney and Cley to the Stiffkey Freshes channel, with Morston Creek entering about halfway along. Morston was a major port some 400 years ago; it is now used by a small number of fishing and leisure boats and the seal-watching ferries that still run from the quay.

Blakeney Point, the shingle spit that shelters the harbour, sits within Blakeney National Nature Reserve. Its Old Lifeboat House, at the tip of the spit, doubles as the seaward marker for the harbour's speed-limit line.

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Morston Quay café

The National Trust's takeaway kiosk on the quay, open daily February to December, with hours varying by weather.

Website

High Sand Creek Campsite

A campsite around two and a half miles west of the quay, near Stiffkey, taking public tent and touring bookings.

Website

Conditions to check

Tidal flow

The harbour drains almost completely at low water; shoal-draft craft can reach Morston only around 2 hours either side of high water at springs, or 1 hour either side at neaps.

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Tidal flow

A strong tide race runs around Blakeney Point; the National Trust advises against paddling towards the Point or into the centre of Blakeney Pit.

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Boat traffic

The harbour is busiest in the hours either side of high water, when seal-trip boats and other commercial and pleasure craft use the same channels.

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Limited exit

Once the tide turns, the creeks fill quickly and can cut off a route back on foot; the advice is to be back on the landward side of the creeks, or on the coast path, quay or hard, around four hours before high water at Wells bar.

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