Skomer lies just half a mile, and a 15 minute boat trip, off the Pembrokeshire coast, making it one of the most accessible locations in the British Isles to see coastal wildlife up close and personal. It’s owned by Natural Resources Wales, but staff and volunteers of The Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales (who helped with the purchase of the island in 1959) do a great job of managing and welcoming the 250 daily visitors, both on the island and at the shop and exhibitions onshore at the Martin’s Haven departure point.

It’s home to the largest breeding colony of Manx Shearwater in the world, but as they spend the day out at sea, only returning to their burrows at night, you’re unlikely to see many. Inevitably, between April and July when they’re nesting, it’s the puffins that steal the show and provide the easiest photo opportunities, but on our trip in early July, we also saw Chough, Curlew, Swallows, Wheatear, Oystercatcher, Guillemots and Razorbills and of course the ubiquitous Gulls without having to look too hard.

A £40 adult ticket for the trip gives you 5 hours on the island. But be aware that sailings can be cancelled in rough weather. We were more concerned that, with an 11 year old in our group, 5 hours might be too long, but that timing’s obviously the result of years of experience, and is about perfect. We opted to cover the south east quarter of the island, and spent a lot of time photographing the birds, but it’d be easily possibly to use the time to get the whole of the island’s perimeter if you’d prefer. For us, that’s one for next time maybe.