Even though I live in Essex, I’d never been to Mersea Island.  What a trick I have missed all these years.  I was absolutely wowed by this island.

Even though I live in Essex, I’d never been to Mersea Island.  What a trick I have missed all these years.  I was absolutely wowed by this island.  It is seven square miles and has  stunning views over the Blackwater Estuary.  It is the UK’s most easterly inhabited island.  It is a beautiful, picturesque, idyllic and quaint fishing village, with a community vibe, and offers something for everyone.  We were invited to stay with friends at the Park Dean, Coopers Beach Resort.  The resort has static caravans or you can pitch up here with your tourer or motor home too.  There is a club house, with a restaurant, a swimming pool a children’s playground and of course it is right on Coopers beach! The beach is a lovely sandy beach.

We arrived around 1.00, and were we able to get access to our caravan, even thought the official check in time was 15.00.  The key was left in the safe outside the caravan.  It has two bedrooms, one with ensuite,  a kitchen, seating area, with tv and dvd player,  and bigger bathroom. It’s plenty big enough for the four of us.  We dropped our bags in the spotlessly clean and fresh smelling caravan and had a look around the site.  It’s a fairly big site, with approximately 620 static caravans the site is very clean and well maintained. 

We had a table booked at a local restaurant Seafood at Dawn.  We hoped to take a taxi there – there are very few taxis on the Island and over the weekend they are already booked up for airport drop offs and so on.  Despite several phone calls and messages left on voicemails we were unable to order a taxi, so we drove to the restaurant.  It’s a lovely location and setting, in west Mersey on the seafront.  The staff were welcoming and seated us straight away, and took our drinks order.  I do not particularly like sea food and thought I would struggle to find something to eat.  If you do not eat any fish or seafood you will not have much choice from the menu.
However, I am dedicated to trying new food when the opportunity arises so I decided to try the skate, it is served with new potatoes and vegetables. All of the fish served is fresh – probably caught that morning, well presented and if you like fish and seafood you will be spoilt for choice.  My skate is  actually really nice piece of fish, very lightly battered and just the right size for me.  It melts in your mouth and is full of flavour, I cleared my plate.  Darren had seafood linguine it looked very nice and I tried a small piece of the Salmon mixed in with the pasta,  it was tasty and chunky.   I also had cheesecake dessert, which was perfect, but huge.  The meal here for four people (one with starter, two desserts and two drinks each) was £97.75.

We spent the rest of our night (Saturday night) in the club house, at the resort.  It’s a very big club house, it has outdoor seating and has a section for the children’s entertainment, which was very very noisy.  But we managed to play cards and have a few drinks before they closed at midnight.  It’s just a short walk back to our caravan.  Everything is close by at this resort. We’re up late the next morning – 9.10, and by the time we get ready to leave our caravan, hoping to get breakfast its looking more like a brunch.  We made our way to Mersea Barns, driving again its very nearby.  However, they have just stopped serving breakfast and are now taking lunch orders – (it’s 11.50).  I haven’t had a roast for ages so I ordered the roast chicken and Darren had the roast beef.

Both meals are huge, fresh and delicious.  A couple on the table next to us were not happy with the beef – said it was too rare – and sent it back.  The manager heard us talking about it and came to reassure us that it would be dealt with. She explained that they had only just this week gone back to serving roast dinners and that they had a new chef in the kitchen who was “mortified” that a meal had been sent back.  However, Darren is a chef and he told the manager not to worry about it.  That the beef had been served how it was supposed to be.  So no harm done but a least she took the time to talk to us about it and gave the other customers beef how they wanted it served.    The restaurant is bright, clean, airy and welcoming.  You can take dogs in with you – to the conservatory area.  There is outdoor seating garden and play area .  Indoors is beautifully and simply decorated focussing around a cherry blossom tree in the centre of the restaurant.  They also offer afternoon teas, freshly made cakes, lunches, breakfasts, and snacks

There is also a shop attached to this restaurant, selling all kinds of fresh goods and local produce, such as chutneys and sauces as well as souvenirs, gifts and groceries, local arts and crafts and Food.

Mersea itself is a stunning coastal spot, just ten miles from Colchester.  We took a walk along one of the beaches, on the west of the island.  The beach is a lovely sandy beach with an abundance of washed up oyster shells and is punctuated with a fantastic show of beach huts.

There is a 13 miles coastal walk around the island, which takes roughly three hours as well as many shorter coastal routes. 

The island is steeped in history.  There is a pre Roman settlement to explore.  There have been many reports of a sighting of a ghostly Roman Centurion at the river crossing.  The Anglo-Saxon church is a fantastic landmark to explore.  The Island also recorded one of the most destructive earthquakes in the UK.  On April 22nd 1884, at 9.18 am the earthquake lasted for around ten seconds and was mostly devastating to the west of the island. 

Seafood at Dawn
Coast Road,
West Mersea.
CO5 8LT
01206 383253

Mersey Barns

East Road

East Mersea,

Colchester.
CO5 8TQ

01206 384198

Park Dean Resorts.

Church Lane

Mersey Island

Colchester

CO5 8TN

Please note I did not book this accommodation – so therefore I am unable to advise of the cost.  But it was a two bedroom static caravan.