In August, Saltmarsh Island has 9,000 visitors a day. In October it has about 300 people who live there, a pub, a shop and 18 miles of boardwalk across the dunes.
The ferry from Port Avalon takes 50 minutes and runs twice a day out of season, at 8am and 4pm. Miss the last one back and you will be staying the night. The Lantern Inn has six rooms and a fire.
The walk around the north end of the island, from the ferry pier to the old lifeboat station and back, is nine miles and almost entirely flat. Take binoculars: the seals haul out on the sandbar at low tide.
