Donkey Island is a large outcrop to the north-east of Hele Beach, about half a kilometre north-east of Hele. It is not really an island at all, but is topographically slightly separate from the mainland. The 1889 Ordnance Survey map shows a path up to Donkey Island from the beach below, now gone.

Donkey Island is so-called because the local families kept donkeys here in the late 19th century. The donkeys were used to carry laundry and pull donkey-chairs for tourists.

The 1889 OS map does not name Donkey Island, but does show a path up from the beach, now gone. The path was still used after WW2, but its use lessened from 1904 when the new sewer outflow made access to the path difficult.

"Donkey Island was so called because the old washer-women of the village used to leave their donkeys there when not employed in delivering the laundry linen." (Ilfracombe Chronicle Sept. 1st 1933 p 6)