For the lucky children who go there on a school trip it is an experience to treasure.

Now Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the owner of the island, is making that experience available to everyone with access to a computer.

A new 'virtual tour' of the island and a free, downloadable education pack mean that everyone can join in the fun.

The Isle of May National Nature Reserve is a popular visitor attraction, as well as a world-class site for nature, with full boats visiting from Fife and East Lothian throughout the tourist season.

Teachers have been using the reserve as an educational resource for many years but now SNH has just released an 170-page education pack to help them.

The pack fits within the five-14 national curriculum guidelines focusing on environmental studies and is particularly suitable for 8-12 year olds.

The information and activities cover the natural and cultural history of the island.

The pack, which is free, can be downloaded from http://www.nnr-scotland.org.uk/publications.asp?reserve=34 or can be obtained on CD from SNH, 46 Crossgate, Cupar KY15 5HS.

The best experience is for teachers and leaders to take a party of children to the island on one of the tourist boats. If that is not possible then the pack can be used on land using the reserve's website.

The website 'virtual tour' has a series of short videos, or audio and photos, which give all viewers, young or old, a real sense of the specialness of the place. The reserve manager speaks about the island's varied natural history, its lighthouses, its place as a holy site and its experience as a home to people.

Simply go to www.nnr-scotland.org.uk, select Isle of May and click on virtual tour.

Therese Alampo, SNH's reserve manager on the Isle of May said: "I hope everyone enjoys the virtual tour and the educational resource pack.

Perhaps once people have seen those, they will then come and visit us.

"There are two members of staff based on the May and we meet the arriving boats to give a short talk. We can also run educational activities on the island and subsidised packages on the boat the May Princess are available for school groups.

"It really is a magical place and everyone who visits the May has a great time."

The May is home to thousands of grey seals, the fourth largest breeding group in the UK, who feed in the rich kelp forests surrounding the island. It is most famous for its seabirds, over 200,000 of them, which include shags, puffins, terns, guillemots, razorbills, eider ducks, gulls, kittiwakes and fulmars. The huge west cliffs are teeming with seabirds in summer.