Walkers, families, and budding geologists flock to see the Jurassic Coast, with its unique cliffs and habitats. So if you want to escape those late trains and polluted roads, what about taking to the sea?

Our Skipper, Ian Stuart

Our reporter Greg Wade took the 2 o'clock cruise from Exmouth to Sidmouth to get a taste of the Jurassic shoreline for himself.

The Pride of Exmouth is less than a year old and has been custom built to cope with the local beaches. Its narrow draft and flat bottom enable it to land at East Devon beaches without harbours.

There are many fascinating sights along the shore. At one stage we cross an army firing range and then we see some large cliff falls, extremely common to this area.

In addition there is always plent of wildlife to spot, both on land and at sea.

Much of the coastline is slipping

Our Skipper for the trip is Ian Stuart whose family has run the business for several generations.

Ian wants to expand the service to take in more easterly locations (so far this year the trip ends in Seaton). He has ambitious plans to stretch the route as far as Weymouth in Dorset but this depends on building a new faster craft that could make high-speed connections, linking East Devon and Dorset coastal towns and villages.

One of the main problems with any regular service is its dependency on the weather. The day I was there we were unable to pick up 40 passengers from Sidmouth because of the previous storms.

Ian wants to purchase a specially built aluminium craft that can carry up to 25 five people at speeds of up to 50 knots. This would enable locals and walkers to get a regular coastal service. However these plans are dependent on resolving speed and local regulations.