The tiny island an hour from the UK with a Caribbean-like coastline
IF I told you there’s an island an hour’s flight from the UK, with a Caribbean-like coastline, that gets summer quicker than England and you don’t need a passport – you’d think I was pulling your leg.
But such a unicorn does exist in the English Channel: Jersey.
When my family and I visited earlier this year, every beach was outstanding, the weather glorious, the food a fantastic hybrid of French and English tastes.
And, perfect when travelling with a four-year-old, almost everywhere could be reached in 20 minutes by car.
Jersey calls itself “curiously Brit . . . (ish)” and it sums up this island, 14 miles from the coast of France, perfectly.
Reached by plane in an hour or by car ferry from Poole in four hours, it is part of the Channel Islands — British Isles but not controlled by Westminster — so you don’t need a passport to visit.
Jersey has many epic beaches, often next to free car parks and regularly featuring fabulous cafes serving both generous portions of food and cold beers.
Our first beach was Plemont, in the north, with the clearest turquoise waters.
The cafe, which won an award for the best soft-scoop ice cream on the island and serves local beer and cider, could also lay claim to best beer-with-a-view — as customers regularly spot dolphins.
But one rival for that — my new favourite travel awards category — is Le Braye bistro on St Ouen’s Bay, a white-sand beach popular with surfers that spans almost the whole of Jersey’s west coast.
We dined on fish and chips, chicken schnitzel and Thai curry, and watched the sun set with the sand between our toes and a glass of Gascon wine in hand.
We enjoyed St Ouen’s so much that we returned twice.
Dolphin spotting
Once for some sandcastle-building and a bracing swim — 11C in late April — and again for a hike along the rugged coast towards the bottom of the island, via the 6,500-year-old La Sergente Tomb and up to Britain’s southernmost lighthouse, Corbiere.
Also stunning was St Brelade’s Bay, which regularly features on lists of best beaches in the British Isles, thanks to its white sand, shallow surf and clear water.
My son loves sealife.
But despite every person we met telling us tales of dolphin-spotting, we had not got so lucky.
So we went in search of them on a wildlife RIB trip with Jersey Seafaris.
Within minutes, we’d spotted them — hunting for their lunch among the sand bars.
The boat ride also stopped off at the Écréhous — a group of islands six miles from Jersey and eight miles from France, the largest of which is populated by a handful of fishermen’s huts that are now holiday homes.
It is an eerily peaceful outcrop of land so remote that the tiny collection of houses share wifi — with the code scrawled on a rocky wall for any stranded passers-by.
The empty beaches are Instagram gold — as are those of the stunning Les Minquiers sandbanks and reef, which Seafaris also operates a trip to and is often likened to the Maldives.
We toasted our dolphin-spotting with another beachfront beer, and huge crab sandwiches, at the stunning Driftwood Cafe right on Archirondel Beach, which is run by a local fisherman and woman.
We stayed at the Club Hotel And Spa in St Helier, perfectly situated both with-in walking distance of the ferry terminal and midway along the south coast.
The Club Hotel is a 5H establishment, which made me nervous with a young child in tow, but they couldn’t have been less stuffy.
My son delighted in passing through the lobby each day, because staff greeted him with huge smiles, examining with impressive interest whatever pebble or shell he’d discovered.
Secret tunnels
The same goes for the Michelin-starred restaurant on site, Bohemia.
They served our pre-schooler fish and chips with a flourish usually reserved for minor royals, while my boyfriend and I dined on locally sourced treats including potato mille-feuille (with Jersey royals, natch), crab pannacotta and French white aspar-agus with seaweed butter.
The rooms were lovely and spacious, and icing on the cake was the spa, with a generous pool that was a total luxury given we were also on the beach every day.
Of course, Jersey is not only about the beaches.
The island’s proximity to France means it is full of history.
Jersey and Guernsey were the only part of the British Empire occupied by the Nazis in World War Two, and the Germans built secret tunnels to defend themselves from the Allied Forces.
The island also has fortifications from the Napoleonic Wars and English Civil War, but our favourite was 13th-century Mont Orgueil Castle, where displays reveal tales of life inside its walls over the years.
Our visit was made extra-special by the dress-up room which allows both adults and children to dress up as knights, jesters and princesses to explore the castle.
Pretending to fire a cannon over the ramparts while dressed as a knight was brilliant fun.
In fact, the entire trip was.
When it comes to family holidays, you’d be hard pressed to find better.
GO: Jersey
GETTING THERE: Condor Ferries is from £85 each way from Poole to Jersey for a car and two passengers.
To book, see condorferries.co.uk
STAYING THERE: Rooms at The Club Hotel & Spa in St Hellier, Jersey start from £146per night for a deluxe double room with breakfast.
To book, visit theclubjersey.com
MORE INFO: See jersey.com