OUSE CRUISES 2023

BOOK a boat trip on the beautiful River Ouse at Lewes and enjoy a unique experience surrounded by nature in the heart of the South Downs national park. The river has been spectacularly awesome with super-high tides during the current lunar cycle, and the fine weather looks set to continue into October. Don’t be sheepish – make your booking before summer ends. We only occasionally get lucky enough to see the seal, but our boat the Lady Helen usually passes herons, egrets, buzzards, swans, kingfishers and cormorants as we glide through this unspoilt tidal waterway.

BOOK HERE:

booking@ousecruises.com

CHOOSE your outing from trips listed here – all times are fixed by the tide – then email request to: booking@ousecruises.com

Please include 1) chosen date 2) number of passengers 3) your contact details including phone contact and email address.

We will get in touch to confirm booking. All trips leave from our mooring close to Lewes centre and return two to three hours later. Timings are dictated by the tide, which varies every day. The Lady Helen, can take six passengers in comfort and safety in compliance with MCA Small Passenger Boat Code. Trips go up river toward Hamsey, unless otherwise stated. Your party will have exclusive charter of boat and skipper.

Please note we have a min charter fee. Payment is in cash on the day. Due to tides/weather, trips may have to be cancelled at short notice but we will keep in touch with you. We have a cover to protect from sun and light rain but will not go if the rain is heavy. We ask customers to liaise with us if they are concerned, or if anyone in their party has accessibility difficulties.

Prices 2023

Weekdays (Mon-Fri): £35pp (£25 for children under age 12) with min charter fee £140.

Weekends and Bank Hols: £40pp (£30 children under 12) with min charter fee £160.

We are happy to discuss bespoke excursions including longer trips down river to Southease, Piddinghoe and the sea at Newhaven.

Lewes-based crime writer Lesley Thomson, treated to a birthday trip by her mates, said: “For decades I’ve dreamed of drifting down the Ouse with a picnic and good mates. My dream is a reality! Wonderful to see Lewes from the river. If I feature the experience in a novel, Ouse Cruises are definitely the good guys!”

2 hour cruise good for you – official

Weekly “awe” outings to soak up nature and appreciate the world around us can boost positive emotions, reduce stress and make us smile, according to research reported in Daily Mail (21/9/20). Professor Virginia Sturm at the University of California, San Francisco said after an eight-week study that encouraged participants to take weekly 15-minute walks:

” Occasionally shifting our energy and attention outward instead of inward can lead to significant improvements in emotional well-being. Experiencing awe is such a simple practice and we now show it can have measurable effects on our emotional well-being.  A little more joy and a little more connectedness with the world around us is something all of us could use these days.”

A two-hour dose of nature significantly boosts health and wellbeing, according to another scientific study. Researchers interviewed 20,000 about their previous week’s activity. Among those who spent little or no time in nature, a quarter reported ill health and almost half were not satisfied with their life, a standard measure of wellbeing. In contrast, just one seventh of those who spent at least two hours in nature said their health was poor, while only a third were not satisfied with life.