What's the story here?

Situated near the southwestern end of St Mary’s Island, Hugh Town is the administrative centre, capital and the largest settlement on the Isles of Scilly. The town is built for the most part on a low sandy isthmus which connects the two granite islands that form St Mary’s, The Garrison, to the west, with the larger body of the island to the east. To the north of the isthmus is a natural bay of St Mary's Pool and to the south Port Cressa Bay.




Sometimes spelt Porthcressa, the bay is sheltered by The Garrison and Morning Point to the west, Carn Mahael and Peninnis Head to the east, and the isthmuses' long south-facing arc of beach at its head. Porthcressa Beach is probably the most popular beach on the island with visitors and locals alike using it for sunbathing, swimming and generally relaxing.




In the recent past, the bay had 14 yellow visitor mooring buoys along its northwestern edge that occupied the best anchoring location in the bay. Always controversial, these moorings are no longer there, leaving ample room again to anchor free of charge in the best part of the bay. This is most useful and it inevitably a popular anchorage. Vessels lying at the seaward end of the bay will need to mount the engine as it is a quarter of a mile dingy run to the shore and it may wind up being a scramble through rocks and weed at low water.

How to get in?

Use southwestern England’s coastal overview for Land's End to Isles of Scilly and St Mary’s Pool for general approaches.

Peninnis Head, with the white round metal tower on a black metal framework of Peninnis Light Fl.20s36m17M, will be clearly visible from some distance to seaward. Being situated immediately to the west of the head it is very easy to positively identify Porth Cressa. On closer approaches, the deep inlet with its sandy beach, the houses of Hugh Town on the isthmus, the Generator Chimney and squat tower on Buzza Hill, on the eastern side, will all be conspicuous. Likewise, many boats are likely to be anchored there during the season. The isolated rocky island of Wras, with its outer extension Biggal Rock, situated on the western side of the entrance will soon be visible on closer approaches.




From the initial fix steer to pass midway between Peninnis Head and The 'Spanish Ledge' East Cardinal Mark, Q(3)10s. Peninnis Head is steep too but stand off the shoreline a couple of hundred metres when proceeding toward Porth Cressa as Pollard Rock, that dries to 1.8 metres at low-water springs, lays about 60 metres south of its inner head.





Biggal, the outlier rock of the bay, must be circumvented first. It is always visible being 2.4 metres over MHWS and should be passed about 150 metres to port.





Continue into the bay steering north by northwest for Little Port Beach, close east of Little Carne at the head of the bay, passing Wras well to port, 3.4 metres over MHWS. This course avoids Fennel Rock, covers/uncovers to 1.8 metres MHWS, that lies at the north-eastern corner of the large drying rocky ridge extending about 800 metres from Wras.




It also steers a course that clears the large rock shelf called Porth Cressa Brow, drying to 4.9 metres, that occupies the eastern half of the bay. Raveen Rock, 4.6 metres over MHWS, provides a good mark for the ledge as it lies just inside the ledge’s southwestern extremity.




Vessels arriving from St Mary's Sound should pass the starboard beacon 'Woolpack' FL.G.5s well to port. Then steer to pass Biggal Rock well to port as a covered rock, with 0.6 metres over it, lies between it and Woolpack about 150 metres southwest of Wras. Once Biggal Rock is abeam to port it is safe to start circling around it maintaining a distance of 150 metres and then steering up the bay. Do not be tempted to cut in between Morning Point and the Wras and as rock ledges extend from both of these and the entire area dries completely on big tides.




The best sheltered deep water for yachts carrying any draught is entered in the area between Morning Point and Raveen Rock where 7 metres will be found. The deepwater extends about 200 metres northwestward into the harbour and the 2-metre contour can be found close after a yellow special marker buoy.




Thereafter it starts to shallow and soon after starts to dry to 0.3 metres over Brow Breeze rocks that extend across the head of the bay. The special marker buoy shows the location of the western power cable where no anchoring should take place. A fairly large patch of sand with rocky patches, normally visible underwater, provides reliable holding in moderate conditions with a sensible scope of chain.




Land by tender on the smaller of the two clean sandy beaches called Little Porth on the western side. This leaves the larger beach unimpeded for recreational use.

Why visit here?

It is uncertain the origin of the name Porthcressa. 'Porth' means 'harbour or cove' in Cornish but Cressa is uncertain and may have been derived from the Greek word meaning 'gold'. If this is the case it perfectly describes this south-facing bay with its crescent pale golden sand at its head. The bay is also more than familiar with denizens from the Mediterranean.



History of inhabitation dates back to the Bronze Age with evidence uncovered of an early settlement from this period on the east side of the cove. However significant funerary monuments have been uncovered here that date back to the Roman period. It is thought that the Romans used the site for burial.



The dominant funerary rite on Scilly during the Romano-British period involved the burial of a contracted corpse within a cist. A cist was a small box-like chamber sunk into the ground and walled with course rubble. The Porthcressa-type cists, as they have become known to distinguish them from the generally larger Bronze Age cists, were boulder-lined course slab walls capped by large flat natural boulder slabs. The corpses were accompanied by broaches and some of the graves had other objects such as pots, one of these containing a glass bead. The inclusion of brooches suggests that they must have played a special role in the funerary ritual and these have been used to roughly date the cists to the 1st to 4th centuries AD.



Today, with its golden sandy beach at the back of Hugh Town, Porth Cressa is a more attractive location for the living. Sheltered on both sides by rocky outcrops, its calm waters and with a gradually shelving beach, it provides safe swimming rocky outcrops that offer some interesting snorkelling. There is a delightful promenade above the beach, with a grassy area popular for picnics and a range of visitor facilities including the tourist office and the library overlooking the beach. This walkway leads to The Garrison wall that runs along the western side of the bay providing walks around the whole island fortress. On the western side, a pathway leads out to Peninnis Head which wanders out to a landscape of granite rocks sculpted by wind and sea into the most extraordinary shapes. A short walk over Buzza Hill leads to Old Town the medieval capital of the island.




From a boating point of view, just the other side of the isthmus from Hugh Town harbour, Porth Cressa provides all facilities of the town without its commercial hustle and bustle. Indeed it feels more a remote haven of peace secluded tranquillity that can be the perfect antidote to the principal port with the constant coming and going of the island ferries. Likewise, for those intending on St Mary’s Pool and are met by unsuitable weather or the tide is running foul on arrival in St Mary's Sound, then Porth Cressa, or The Cove between Saint Agnes and Gugh, provide the ideal solution.




But, always remember, swell can be unpleasant in Porth Cressa. Be prepared to lift the hook at a moment’s notice and vacate at the least hint of a wind shift to the southwest round through south to the southeast or the sudden appearance of any swell from these directions.

What facilities are available?

Facilities as at St Mary’s Pool Public toilets and bins ashore as well as Sibleys Laundry. Takeaway vans above the beach in the evenings are particularly good. A particularly useful resource is the library at the east end of the beach that provides free WiFi.



All town facilities - shops, pubs and restaurants are immediately behind the beach. The Health Centre, Dentist and Hospital are located above the beach, to the right-hand side. A path leads up the hill directly to them.

With thanks to:

Michael Harpur eOceanic.