We were lucky enough to be invited to review a luxury weekend stay at the Karma St Martins located on the island of St Martins, Isles of Scilly. My husband who is a professional wedding and lifestyle photographer in Cornwall (Mark Shaw Photography) made a highlights video of our stay and captured some photographs showcasing the beauty of the islands.
The islands are covered in stunning heathland and fringed by sparkling sandy beaches such as Great Bay on St. Martin’s. On Tresco, one of the 5 inhabited islands, Tresco Abbey Garden is home to subtropical plants and also the Valhalla Museum, displaying shipwrecked figureheads. The tower of 17th-century Cromwell’s Castle stands at the north of Tresco.
We flew from Lands End airport, the forecast was fine and my husband does not have good sea legs so this was our preferred choice with our two boys. The other option was to get across to the Isles by boat or helicopter. So we packed up our things and caught the flight across to the Isles of Scilly. The flight itself was a brilliant adventure, the view of the Cornish coast and then our approach to St Marys was beautiful, Cornwall looks so amazing from the air. So after 20 minutes we had arrived on the main island of St Marys. We then after a quick ride in the free bus to the port boarded a ferry across to St Martins.
The ferry ride across the sea took us into St Martins, and what a boat ride. We passed the garden isle of Tresco and in the distance caught our first glimpse of St Martins. I had read a little about the islands before our visit, descriptions such as outstandingly beautiful, uncrowded and unspoilt. I didn’t really understand that this was not only true but like some little kept secret of a natural wonder, these islands look and feels quite different to Cornwall and the UK, a simpler and somehow kinder life happens here. It felt relaxed already and we felt excited to explore what St Martins had to offer.
As the ferry pulled into the dock, we saw one of the beaches of St Martins, it was so pristine, the waters were the brightest blue and the sand almost sparkled. We had arrived at the opposite side to the island where the Karma Hotel was located, so caught the only mode of transport the hotel transfer car. St Martins is traffic free except for locals, just one, single track road joins one end of the island to the other.
The Karma hotel was fantastic, our 2 nights here were fabulous. The food and hospitality was faultless and the beachfront views were just breathtaking. The hotel has a relaxed atmosphere but with a luxurious feel.There is a restaurant on site or a fantastic pub about five minutes walk up the road. We loved both, but our two little guys loved going to pub and walking back along the beach at night. The beachfront of the hotel has a water taxi that can take you out to the other islands with ease, so it makes it a prefect base if you want to explore all the isles of scilly.
The island of St Martins has a post office and tea room but apart from that it has white washed cottages with beautiful picket fences all with panoramic sea views. We spent our few shorts days here we spent swimming in the sea and exploring the island. Without phone coverage and lack fo wi fi we found a peace to family life all of a sudden, no arguing over screens.We all just had more time and from that i would say its one of the most chilled and relaxing breaks ive had so far with our young family. If you are looking to kind of go off grid a little and really find some peace and tranquility this is most certainly the place.
We have had the luxury as a family to travel across the world and we would say this little island off the coast of Cornwall, England is pretty close to paradise ( with the weather of course. ) If you want some family time, peace and quiet, and love walking and exploring coastline and beaches this is a must see destination. I cant wait to go back and explore the other islands.
If we haven’t convinced you yet about the Isles of Scilly, check out the video and see for yourself (we extremely lucky with the weather!)
Finally, if you’re looking to stay on the islands, we highly recommend Karma St Martins