Channel Islands sailing

British Channel Islands Sailing
Distance
Varies with your plan. For scale, Jersey is about 22 km (14 miles) off the Cotentin coast, Alderney is about 32 km (20 miles) north-east of Guernsey, and the Sark ferry from St Peter Port takes 55 minutes.
Country
Channel Islands
Difficulty
Moderate
Type of trip
Sailing route

The Channel Islands lie off the Cotentin coast of Normandy, and there’s no set sailing route through them. Most people cruise between St Peter Port, Herm, Sark, Alderney and Jersey in short hops, timed around the tides. The islands are British Crown Dependencies but not part of the UK, and they form two separate bailiwicks. Jersey is one. Guernsey, with Alderney, Sark and Herm, is the other. Each has its own government and its own border controls.

That matters when you arrive. In the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a visiting boat has to make its first arrival at St Peter Port, St Sampson’s or Beaucette Marina on Guernsey, or Braye Harbour on Alderney, and not straight to Herm or Sark. If it has come from outside the bailiwick it flies the yellow Q flag until the skipper has handed in the paper arrival form, the GC27, at a customs office or a yellow customs box. In Jersey, St Helier and Gorey are the designated ports, and you fill in a declaration on gov.je. Since 23 April 2026 you may need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to visit Jersey, including by private boat. The islands follow the UK rules, you apply through the UK ETA app or GOV.UK, and a UK ETA covers Jersey and Guernsey, so check on gov.je and gov.gg whether you need one. Check the current rules with Guernsey Harbours and Ports of Jersey before you sail. The tides are the other thing to plan around. Jersey lies in the Gulf of Saint-Malo, which takes in Mont-Saint-Michel Bay, where some of Europe’s biggest tides occur. The marinas at St Helier and St Peter Port sit behind sills, so you can only get in or out for a few hours either side of high water.

Highlights along the way

  1. St Peter Port, Guernsey: the main harbour, guarded by Castle Cornet, which stood on a tidal island until a breakwater joined it to the harbour in 1859. Victor Hugo lived in exile at Hauteville House from 1856 to 1870. Victoria Marina’s sill opens about 2.5 hours either side of high water.
  2. Herm: a car-free island about 2.4 km long, with ferries all year from St Peter Port. Cars and bicycles are banned, and Shell Beach is on the north-east side.
  3. Sark: no cars, only tractors, bicycles and horse-drawn carts. It became the world’s first Dark Sky Island in 2011. Visitors pick up the yellow buoys at Havre Gosselin on the west coast or Grève de la Ville on the east, and can lie against the wall in Creux, a drying harbour. La Coupée, the narrow ridge path to Little Sark, has a 100 m drop on each side.
  4. Alderney and Braye Harbour: about 70 yellow visitor buoys behind the Victorian breakwater, which is about 900 m long. The Alderney Race, 15 km wide, runs between the island and Cap de la Hague, and at equinoctial springs its stream can reach about 12 knots. Gannets nest on Les Étacs, and puffins on Burhou.
  5. Jersey: the largest island, 119.6 km², with a 70 km coastline. In St Helier, the gates of St Helier Marina and Elizabeth Marina close when the tide drops to 2 m above the sill, so you can only get in or out for part of each tide. Elizabeth Castle stands on a tidal island in the bay. Gorey, on the east coast, dries at low tide below Mont Orgueil.

Distance

Varies with your plan. For scale, Jersey is about 22 km (14 miles) off the Cotentin coast, Alderney is about 32 km (20 miles) north-east of Guernsey, and the Sark ferry from St Peter Port takes 55 minutes.

Best time to go

May to September. The long days give you more choice of tides for the passages. Check the tide tables and tidal stream atlas for every hop, especially round Alderney.

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