For dates and times of scheduled tours, please use our home page Tour Search or check individual tours, below.
2.5 hour guided evening cruise exploring the upper reaches of the Fal Estuary, where historic place names like Roundwood Quay, King Harry’s Reach and Malpas hint at the archaeological sites to be discovered.
3.5 hour guided afternoon cruise from the Fal Estuary to the Helford, discovering their evolution through time and the wealth of archaeological sites lining their shores and the open coast in between.
2.5 hour guided evening cruise around Carrick Roads and King Harry's Reach, discovering how thousands of years of human activity have left their mark and the fascinating stories about those who lived beside and sailed these waters.
A full-day, small-group, guided tour combining a return ferry trip with a shoreline walk, allowing historic and prehistoric sites to be viewed from the water and visited up close on land.
Join us for one of our special Estuary Cruises and explore by boat West Cornwall’s rich history, with knowledgeable and friendly local experts, part of the range of authentic, high-quality, guided tours, on foot or by boat, provided by Heritage Adventures.
Heritage Adventures has partnered up with local ferry company Fal River Cornwall to offer a limited number of special evening cruises exploring the history and archaeology of the spectacular Fal and Helford Estuaries, on board the classic wooden ferry, Moyana.
People have been living around the shores of the Fal Estuary and sailing on its waters since prehistoric times, and from the Medieval period the estuary was a major focus of maritime trade and industry. From the 16th century, its strategic location at the gateway to the English Channel made it important in the defence of the realm and the estuary mouth was successively fortified over 400 years.
The Fal’s rich and distinctive historical identity is reflected in the number and range of archaeological sites and historic structures – Iron Age cliff castles, Medieval creekside churches, Post-Medieval coastal forts, mining remains, quays, slipways and port infrastructure, abandoned hulks and shipwrecks.
An historic audit carried out by your guide, local archaeologist Jeanette Ratcliffe, as part of promoting sustainable use of the estuary, recorded 1200 sites and structures around the its 70-mile shore. A similar survey was made of the Helford Estuary, whose sheltered position and abundance of natural resources have attracted people for thousands of years.
‘Step aboard’ and let Heritage Adventures share with you the wonderful heritage of both these spectacular estuaries.
For 2025 Heritage Adventures is partnering up with ‘The Cornish Bird’ storyteller, Elizabeth Dale, to offer an additional aspect to our estuary tours – linking tales, myths and legends to the archaeology and history of the Fal and Helford, and providing two guides for the price of one!
Page header image: (c) Fal River Cornwall. Inset photos: (c) Elizabeth Dale
