Mount Batten is a small peninsula across the Cattewater inlet from the Barbican, easily reached by a short ferry crossing from the Barbican Pontoon. It was a Royal Air Force seaplane and flying boat base until 1996 — T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) was posted here in the 1930s under an assumed name — and has since been converted into a watersports centre, café, and open park.
The headland gives the finest views of Plymouth Sound available from land: the breakwater, the citadel, the Sound opening toward the sea. The Mount Batten Tower is a 17th-century artillery platform that predates the RAF by 300 years. The ferry across takes five minutes and costs very little; it's a better route than walking around. Mount Batten Watersports Centre offers kayaking and paddleboarding on the Cattewater.