1. Ynys Gored Goch

Between the Britannia Bridge and Menai Suspension Bridge, Ynys Gored Goch (Red Weir Island), is a private island with the white house in the middle of the strait in a stretch of water known as The Swellies. The residents once made their living from fish caught in the traps built on the island. The island is only accessible by boat.

2. Ynys Benlas and Ynys Welltog

These two wild and uninhabited islands sit slight further upstream from Ynys Gored Goch. They are breeding sites for greylag geese, oystercatchers and herons and a great place to watch little egrets. Nearby Church island is a great place to view these islands.

3. Church Island (Ynys Tysilio)

The only island of the Menai Straits that you can walk to, Church Island sits to the west of Menai Bridge and is well known for its tiny, charismatic church.

4. Ynys Faelog

North of Menai Suspension Bridge, Ynys Faelog is a small tidal island connected by a narrow stone causeway to Menai Bridge with a house, outbuildings and a boathouse (no access).

5. Ynys Gaint

Ynys Gaint, linked by a short bridge to the town of Menai Bridge, was once a small military base in the 1960s, then a well-loved summer camp for cadets before today’s private ownership of the island, with just a few buildings remaining for the use of cadets (no access).

6. Ynys Castell

Ynys Castell is a beautifully located private holiday let and was used as one of the main sets for the BBC’s crime drama Hidden (no access).

7. Ynys y Bîg

Furth north, Ynys y Bîg is wooded with a 1930s house, its own harbour and boathouse (no access).

8. Puffin Island (Ynys Seirol)

Puffin Island Wales is less than 1km off Penmon Point at the north-east entrance of the Menai Strait and is the ninth largest island off the Welsh coast. It was once home to the sixth century saint, St Seiriol; the remains of his monastery are still visible on the top of the island today. Puffin island is privately owned by the Baron Hill Estate and is an important bird sanctuary. Its great cormorant colony of over 750 pairs is one of the largest in the British Isles. The best time to go to Puffin Island Wales is between April and July common guillemots, razorbills, and kittiwakes. The occasional puffin nests on Puffin island – the latter suffered a heavy loss after a rat infestation in the late nineteenth century. Fulmar and eider duck also breed here, while shags are on the island all year round along with resident Atlantic grey seals.

You are not allowed to visit Puffin island, but tour boats from the pier in Beaumaris run non-landing wildlife trips around the island.