Herm is delightful for a day trip. It can like being in the Caribbean. Beautiful beaches and a relaxed, car free atmosphere. Well worth a visit while in Guernsey.
Currently, open to Bailiwick of Guernsey boats only.
23rd July 2020 – report received that the buoys are now in place at the Harbour – inside and out!
Herm – one of the most beautiful Islands in the World
Belvoir Bay – yes the sea was that colour. Very sheltered beach can get busy. Not much sand at very high tide – (c) photos by Colin S Le Conte
Shell Beach – a beautiful long beach. Amazing to explore at low tide
Official Web Site –
Visit the official website – www.herm.com/ No marina I am afraid – shame – would be a great stopover. Two main places to land people – Rosaire Steps at low water and Herm Harbour at half tide and above. Plus the many, many beaches!
Books
Excellent book from John Frankland for navigation around Guernsey (Herm and Sark also available) – www.guernseypilotage.com/index.htm
Rosaire steps – quite sheltered by a reef at low tide. Very difficult to land people at half tide or above as so much of it is under water.
Rosaire steps at low water – it all gets covered at high tide
Generally, for motor boats, etc Rosaire steps are only used for 3 hours either side of low water. It may be worth noting that on very low spring tides approaches should be made with extreme caution as it does become very shallow and rocky.
For vessels anchoring around Rosaire it is possible to use inflatable dinghy tenders to land on various higher states of tide, but it can be tricky especially once the tide reaches the main narrow steps, hence people tend to row/motor up to the beach by the harbour, especially as there’s not so far to walk to the pub!
All the moorings at Rosaire are private and shouldn’t be used. There is, however, lots of room to anchor.
2019, John reported “I anchored in Rosiere the other day – close to the 2nd most southerly private mooring buoy (the Trident uses the most southerly one). I was warned by one of the ferry skippers that I might have hooked into a mooring chain (someone else had already been fouled there and had had to cast off his anchor chain). I got a colleague to dive down to inspect but there was no sign of any hazard and I was certainly OK. I watched a professional diver crew retrieve the snagged anchor – no doubt at some cost.
I was almost parallel with this second mooring buoy and between it and the Mouette reef. It was over a low water – I’ve anchored in that spot very often but it is a little close to the reef. It was crowded that day and there was not a lot of space anywhere. I’ll go further north next time. I understand that the large barrel type mooring (third one in) is secured by two or even three chains – never had trouble fouling in that area either. Think I’ll rig a tripping line just in case but they are sometimes a pain – especially if someone picks it up thinking it’s a mooring buoy!!” – wise advice
Herm Harbour – Good landing point. Steps just around the corner, harbour shallows the more you go in. Do not moor near the steps as the Herm Ferry moors there.
A landing craft moors at the entrance of the inner harbour (only used by small boats and beware of ropes)
The Travel Trident coming into Herm Harbour at fairly high tide. The steps are marked with white paint
There is a German wall which you can moor alongside. Beware at shallow water as there is a ridge at the bottom which comes out and you can catch your propellers on.
Also – the steps at the end of the pier are not always accessible, especially on spring tides.
See www2.digimap.gg/tides/herm.aspx for Tide Times
Boats do moor up the beach at Herm Harbour and there are some chains you can use to secure your boat bow and stern.
A busy weekend with 2 lines of boats moored, waiting to dry out at half tide
Yellow buoys are available in the harbour and the neighbouring beach. Beware, most if not all dry out at low water (depending on the range of tide) and some have small rocks on the seabed. The harbour moorings being available in exchange for filling in a registration form and a small donation in the Admin Office.
A view of the Harbour at low tide from Vermerette. Note the 2 barrels above the harbour wall which should be lined up. This will take you the other side (north) of Vermerette.
Places to Drink The Mermaid Tavern is a great place to start for a drink.
Lunch
The Black Rock Grill is only available from June for dinner (not lunch).
The Conservatory restaurant is available from 12.30. The Conservatory restaurant is the main hotel restaurant.
The Ship Inn is available for lunch from 12.00.
The Mermaid Tavern is available at lunchtime also
Menus for each restaurant can be found at www.herm.com.
Places to Stay Herm has the White House Hotel, quite a few holiday cottages and 2 campsites
– see www.herm.com/hotel/ for further details
The White House and the Mermaid – visit www.herm-island.com/ The Island of Herm
Restaurant – www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g488314-…