The uninhabited islands
Seal colonies, seabird sanctuaries, Bronze Age graves and the roofless cottages of the last people to leave. Most of Scilly has nobody living on it, and some of it you can still set foot on.
Nobody lives here, and that is the point
Of around a hundred and forty islands in Scilly, five have people living on them. The rest belong to seals and seabirds. Some are big enough to walk across for an afternoon, with beaches, ruined cottages and graves older than the pyramids. Others are bare granite that the sea covers at high tide.
Most are looked after by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust. You reach them on boat trips from St Mary's and the off islands, landing on the beach from a dinghy when the weather allows. A few, Annet above all, are never landed on at all, and the best way to see them is from the water.
Back to the inhabited islands?
Every trip out starts and ends on one of the five.