Islandeering is for people who want adventure in Britain’s wild blue spaces – our rivers, coast, lakes, canals and islands. You will find amazing walks, paddles and swims in the UK’s most special places, those recognised for outstanding natural beauty, incredible geology or special and abundant wildlife.
I’m Lisa Drewe—writer, explorer and lifelong lover of Britain’s wild blue places.
I founded Islandeering to help people discover joyful, purposeful adventures across Britain’s islands, coastlines, rivers and inland waterways—walking tidal paths, swimming hidden coves and paddleboarding quiet lochs, estuaries and creeks.
Over the past fifteen years I’ve explored more than 500 British islands, from the Isles of Scilly to Unst in Shetland. What began as a fascination with maps, tides and Britain’s extraordinary islands has become a lifelong journey of curiosity—an exploration of what these remarkable places can teach us about the relationship between people, place and a changing natural world.
That curiosity now underpins Attention All Shipping, my Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Neville Shulman Challenge Award expedition in 2026. Travelling by paddleboard and on foot around one island in each of the Shipping Forecast regions surrounding Britain, I’m exploring what our islands can teach us about living with a changing ocean, while contributing to citizen science and learning from the people whose lives remain closely connected to the sea.
At the heart of Islandeering is the 4,000 Isles Project—my long-term ambition to explore and, where possible, circumnavigate every island in Britain. It isn’t a race or a list to complete. It’s an ongoing exploration of Britain’s extraordinary coastal landscapes and the stories they hold. Every island reveals something different about nature, history and community, and I share those discoveries through books, photography, practical guides and storytelling.
I’m the author of Islandeering – Adventures Around the Edge of Britain’s Hidden Islands (Wild Things Publishing), Island Bagging England & Wales (Vertebrate Publishing), and three award-winning paddleboarding guidebooks covering South West England; London & the South East; and Wales. Together they feature more than 300 routes across Britain’s rivers, lakes, canals and coastlines. Three of my books have received the Outdoor Writers & Photographers Guild Guidebook of the Year Award, and several new titles are currently in development.
My current flagship public journey is Island 82, inspired by Ordnance Survey’s mapping of Britain’s largest islands. Through 82 human-powered adventures I’m exploring how these remarkable places are shaped by their geography, wildlife, history and communities, while encouraging responsible exploration, citizen science and conservation along the way.
Alongside Islandeering, I chair the trustees of Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), one of the world’s leading marine conservation charities. I write Walk of the Week for The Times Scotland and contribute to publications including The Guardian, The Telegraph, BBC Wildlife, Condé Nast Traveller, Country Walking, Countryfile and Coast. I am also a regular contributor to The Paddler magazine.
Whether you’re planning your first paddle, searching for a new island to explore or simply looking for inspiration, I hope Islandeering helps you discover Britain’s blue spaces with curiosity, confidence and care.
After all, every island, paddle and walk has a story. I hope you’ll discover a few of them for yourself.
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We continuously find new islands, rivers, lochs, canals and coast to walk, SUP and swim in and meet plenty of great folks along the way. Join our community to get new routes and adventures, latest blogs and news by using the email box below. Tune in also to our Facebook and Instagram pages to see where we are going next.
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Wonderful and inspiring. Please put me on your mailing list. I will write again in a few weeks, and will follow up on my interest.
Very best,
Jonathan
Thank you for your message Jonathan and yes I will do.
Have you ever been to the Faroe Islands? I went last year and they have some of the most stunning scenery imaginable.
I’d love to go – we were going to go along to their trail running festival this year and explore more but then decided to spend more time on our own islands. The Faroes are definitely on my list though.
Found you through the BBC article. Fantastic idea, surely the smiles per £ must be well on your side. Hope we share a pot of coffee one day on the far side of who knows where. You are an inspiration! Jim.
Hi James – thanks so much for your message. Hoping to meet a whole lot more islandeers out there now – particularly coffee drinking ones. I shall look out for you. Lisa
Do you know “Some Lovely Islands” by Leslie Thomas? A kindred spirit to be sure. I deliberately didn’t finish reading it so there would always be more.
A favourite island experience: taking the tourist boat to Inner Farne you get an hour on the island of which the last 5 minutes can be alone because everyone else needs to make sure of getting back. Then there was the heart centre glow that only comes with completion and wholeness.
Thank you for the book recommendation Patrick. Just ordered it!
I love Inner Farne too. I was lucky that the National Trust allowed me on the island before the main boats arrived to photograph the wildlife relatively undisturbed. So I share that incredible experience of nature with you. Interesting that you talk of completion and wholeness too. That’s what I find so compelling here. Completing the circle and all that it entails.
Alas, some of us are also ‘anoraks’… .Portland Dorset , not an island …. consider Kent, many islands no longer such as Thanet and Oxney…… don’t forget islands on Rivers and Lakes …. when does a sea stack become and island, would you visit Goodwin. I hope I have extended your bucket list and always happy to share experiences from visits ..
Hey fellow island anorak…great to meet you. Well I have been trying not to get into the definition of an island – generally if it feels like an island it’s good enough for me. Surrounded by salt water or freshwater, joined by bridge, tombolo or causeway, an ex-island now part of the mainland, a speck of rock in the middle of the sea. I don’t really mind. Would love to hear more of your travels though – please do keep in contact. Lisa
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Thanks for your feedback Gerald. This is all self-funded and I am doing my best.
I was fascinated to discover your identification of a basic pyschological desire to ‘conquer’ islands by circumnavigating them, in much the same way that people feel compelled to climb mountains. When I reflected on my choice of holiday destinations over many years, I realised that almost unknowingly I was picking islands ( which I felt I could fully embrace) and in every case had the compulsion to reach the highest point.
As a boy of 14 I had this real urge to run away from home ( not that it was an unhappy childhood) and live and survive on Toll’s island off the coast of St. Marys in the Isles of Scilly, hundreds of miles from my home town. I bought some maps and constantly studied and plotted a way of achieving this. Of course it never happened, but just a few years ago ( and very many further on from this dream) I visited the Scillies and nothing would stop me wading across the water to actually step foot on this small rocky outpost. I actually think I was originally inspired watching a James Mason film called A Touch of Larceny where he ‘survived’ on an island, alone, for several weeks. Very interesting psychology, that appeals strongly to some , who wouldn’t want to ‘own’ an island ?
Now, I must buy your book!
Thank you for your message Ben. I’m still trying to get to the bottom of my island compulsion and find a way of better articulating it.
I’m not sure I would personally use the word ‘conquer’ – I think that may have been newspaper magic. Much like I wouldn’t use it when climbing a mountain as I rather feel that the mountain dictates whether it is possible to reach the summit or not. Much is the same with islands where weather, tide, topography, ground cover and other natural factors have meant that I haven’t been able to make the full circuit in some cases.
Certainly the wish and curiosity to complete the circuit is the same in me as to get to the top of a mountain.
It is also fascinating to hear ‘run away’. At the moment I have spent a few weeks behind my desk and am desperate to get back out there but I am not thinking of coastline – I am desperate to get to an island. Loved your story of plotting your escape as a child. The process you went through is exactly how I find new islands!! Even now that I have completed almost 150 islands, I love the thrill of getting to places like Toll and if there was a further outcrop beyond it I’d want to get there too. It’s a bit like reaching a false summit, of course you won’t stop there you’ll go on until you reach the top.
I will continue to analyse the psychology of this – but for now am content with the description that a few have bestowed on me by saying ‘you must be bonkers’.
Thank you for buying the book and I hope that it gives you some more ideas for island escapes.
Best wishes
Lisa