Half a mile of golden sand stretches towards a calm sea. The desert-like expanse is broken here and there with a dash of colour – over by the pink granite sea wall, two mature women blow up their neon swim floats, further down a dog walker throws an orange ball, and at the shoreline a man in a wetsuit drags a red kayak into the water. The sun is warm on my face as I ponder an autumn dip.
Jersey is a joy for wild swimming. With 44 miles of coastline there’s a beach for every mood and hour of the day. This particular one is my favourite, not least because you can step out onto it from a choice of three hotels that line the bay. I’m wearing a white bathrobe that bears the embroidered monogram of St Brelade’s Bay Hotel, the oldest and most characterful of the trio, which is tucked into a lush hillside at the western corner. Yesterday, in the early morning sunshine, I had a refreshing swim in the heated outdoor pool and felt like I was squeezing out the last drips of summer, while all around me the garden was beginning to turn golden. Today I looked up the sea temperature: 18C, the same as the air and so I happily crossed the road for a salt-water swim.
