An independent project
We Love The Sea is a slow, independent project founded by River Nelson — a body of work devoted to ocean places of meaning. A notebook of particular shores. A record of what the sea asks of the body, the eye, and the imagination.
Through essays, photography, and occasional carefully made objects, it bears witness to coastlines, islands, reefs, and remote waters that feel quietly precious — protected, threatened, or simply deserving of deeper attention. Based on the small Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, the project sits somewhere between long-form notebook, curatorial practice, and place-based journalism.
Pieces are published slowly, only when there is something worth saying — shaped by time spent in the place itself, by observation rather than urgency. Imagery honours rather than packages. Objects, when they appear, are limited and connected to specific journeys. Some ocean places deserve more than passing attention. They deserve a witness. This is one small attempt to be one.
Saint Brandon
Cargados Carajos Shoals, Republic of Mauritius — 2023
An almost-mythical archipelago 430 kilometres north-east of Mauritius. Fifty sand cays on a single submerged reef. One of the last largely intact coral atolls in the western Indian Ocean. I sailed there in 2023 aboard the S/Y Tigoulou and reached five of the thirteen islands before turning back.
Cornwall
England — entries forthcoming
Coves, headlands, beaches, surf breaks. Here I keep returning to. Notes in progress.
Editorial & Commissioned Work
If you would like to be in touch — for editorial commissions, place writing, long-form journalism, or design and brand work — write to me at river@welovethesea.co
I am available to be sent to places. I take a small number of commissions a year, for editors, publications, and brands who want a particular kind of attention paid to a particular place. Travel writing in the conventional sense is not what I do. My work is written from inside a place rather than across the surface of it, paired with original research and field notes from the ground.
A note on this site
The pages here are observational, not authoritative. Where I have drawn on the scientific record and research, I have cited it. Where I have written from my own watching, I have said so. For the formal conservation work being done at Saint Brandon — and there is good work being done — please visit the Saint Brandon Conservation Trust.
We Love The Sea | Founded in 2023. Based on the small Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. A project by River Nelson
© We Love The Sea 2026 | rivernelson.co