St Mary's Lighthouse — Attraction in North Tyneside

We've been visiting the lighthouse over the last few years once we found out that there were usually seals there, and we've never been disappointed!

Their social media page always has an up to date calendar showing the times you can cross to the island, as well as the times that the shop is open.

There's a large car park right next to the island which is only £3 for the day (and you can use the ticket to park at the other car parks in the area) Note - There is a toilet block in the car park but seems to have some random opening times, it was open on Saturday but not on Sunday (who knows why!) If the shop at the lighthouse is open, then there is a toilet in there.

As per usual we saw loads of seals and we spent a long time just watching them. We were lucky to see quite a few swimming around and then 'flopping' their way onto the island.

This visit was the first time we'd been for a while where the shop was actually open, so we decided to pay to go up to the top of the lighthouse. Only costs a few pounds but it was worth doing for the amazing views at the top. (If you're afraid of heights the steps up can be scary, especially the last bit which was like a vertical ladder - but if I can manage it then most people can!)

The small shop itself is very nice, and sells lots of locally made gifts. And the staff are really friendly (and has a toilet)

Highly recommend a visit here if you're in the area (and the tide times work...

The size of the Island, makes social distancing very difficult to achieve. It was great to see fellow visitors trying their utmost to keep distances. We don't have the answers for the problem. However, common sense prevailed and pinch points were treated with the caution they deserved. Not surprisingly, toilets were not available on the Island. It was a very warm day when we visited and the views back to Whitley Bay were stunning. We saw seals basking on the rocks below the Lighthouse. Its always a bonus to see wildlife that is expected to be seen. We can't comment on the shop and cafe as we didn't use them. The Island is well worth a visit all the same. The rock pools either side of the access road proved quite an attraction for many families. UPDATE APRIL 2023 Been some time since we've ventured up to WB and St. Mary's. There are no tide times in the area. We set off to cross the causeway but decided against it. The tide swiftly had the road covered and the island cut off again. I have photos to be posted. Will post them when sorted. As promised. New photos. Causeway blocked in less than 25...

Lovely place for a visit!! Plenty of car parking if you want to drive, but also walkable from Whitley Bay.

The causeway is covered at high tide so you need to be careful if walking across, and it's worth checking the lighthouse open times if you fancy the trip up to the top! If your lucky, you'll also see some seals - on our visit, one of the kids counted about 70 of them, and my gut says there was far more than this!!

If you intend to go up the lighthouse, then tickets can be purchased in the shop. The shop is fairly little, but some loos can be found here if needed. On our visit, the lighthouse was also doing some activities, and we booked in for a rockpooling session, which was really interesting.

This is a really nice spot, and watching the seals was great!! If it hadn't got really windy and started raining, I'm pretty sure we would have spent even longer here! (We were probably there for about 4 hours in total - that includes the...