Find The Nearest Beach UK and Ireland
Planning a trip to the UK and Ireland coast and looking for where the nearest beach is, our beach lists will help you discover the nearest beach to me. Then for each beach, we will answer questions around location, rural or town, sandy or pebble, rockpools, tide times, weather forecast, dog restrictions, bathing water quality, closest beach cafes and provide general information on the beach and its facilities.
When on a beach page use our tools to search nearby UK and Ireland seaside towns and the surrounding coast for things to see and do or places to stay and eat.
If you are looking for an award-winning beach then you can browse our Blue Flag lists or Seaside Award lists.
Finding the right beach in UK and Ireland is easy – simply explore the beach links below, to find the closest hit the jump to my location compass or use the search bar to plan where your next UK and Ireland beach visit should be.
- Barleycove beach on the Mizen Penninsula in west cork a sand beach with extensive dunes.
- Cruden Bay Beach is sandy and has a lot of room as it’s a very long beach with the ruins of Slains Castles at the top giving you a good walk if you’re tired of sunbathing! There is a golf course here as well as harbour facilities like toilets and a post office with other facilities in the nearby town. The car park is on the other side of the burn and you need to cross the bridge to access the beach.
- Strete Gate Beach is a fine shingle beach north of Slapton Sands. The beach has a car park but for other facilities, you will need to visit Torcross or Slapton Sands.
- Porth Dafarch beach is a sandy beach within a sheltered cove. A great location for families as it is sheltered and has rocks and rock pools to explore and provides some great canoeing and Stand Up Paddling (SUP). The cove is also a popular visit for small boats as it provides great place to anchor and swim.
- Bettystown Beach is a sandy beach in a popular seaside resort. The beach is a long beach stretching from the River Boyne on the border of County Meath and County Louth in the north down to the River Nanny at Laytown to the South. This southern stretch is Laytown beach. Facilities include car parking, amusements, shops and plenty of places to eat, The world famous “Tara Brooch” dated 700AD was discovered in 1850 buried in a box on the beach in Bettystown and is now kept in the Royal Academy Collection of the National Museum, Dublin.
- Instow Beach is a long sandy beach backed by dunes on an estuary (rivers Taw and Torridge) very popular for fishing and sailing as well as other beach activities. When the tide goes out the beach becomes very large with some excellent walks. Nearby RSPB reserve and the sand dunes provide good walks. A ferry runs between Instow and Appledore during the summer. There is car parking although limited in the village and also a car park behind the dunes. Parking is limited and it is a good choice to visit via the Tarke Trail which is the old branch line. We have no dog information for Instow beach.
- Bognor Regis West beach is in West Sussex and is a pebble beach that exposes sand at mid to low tide Located to the West of Bognor Regis pier, the beach is a family-friendly beach sloping gently towards the sea. Located in the town itself and becomes less busy as you move away from the Pier. A little along the promenade you have a small children’s play area and a skateboard/bmx ramp for older children that sits directly behind the beach. Also a small kiosk selling drinks and ice creams. The west beach tends to be less busy than the east beach partly due to being further away from the Butlins holiday camp. Facilities are shared with the East beach including toilets, amusements, pier,Cafe, pubs, restaurants, kiosks. Full facilities of the town centre just a short walk.
- Kessingland beach is less popular and more barren than the nearby Suffolk beaches at Lowestoft and therefore is less popular with families but attracts sports like kitesurfing, buggying and landboarding. A WD Council and Kiteboarding UK’s approved teaching/ kite zone with strict rules, the buggy area is located a short distance away from the kite zone. Facilities at the beach include toilets, cafe/restaurant, pub, Caravan park and campsite. The car park is a little back from the beach in the village and if you have a lot of kit it is best to drop off and then go and park the car.
- Warrenpoint beach is a gentle shelving shingle beach with some rocks that all but disappears at high tide.
- Porth Loe beach has no sand and is formed only of boulders. No facilities and very hard to get to. We have no dog information for Porth Loe beach.
- Plas Menai beach is on the Menai Strait, overlooking Anglesey in North Wales. The waters of the Strait are ideal for sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and powerboating, with easy access to the open sea and superb coastal scenery.
- Rosemarkie beach is a long sandy beach backed by a strip of grass that starts in Rosemarkie and stretches south to Chanonry Point. Rosemarkie is a village on the south coast of the Black Isle peninsula and is about a quarter of a mile east of the larger town of Fortrose. Rosemarkie is within a wide and picturesque bay, that has views of Fort George and the Moray coastline. Facilties in Rosemarkie but more rural as you head south along the beach towards Chanonry Point where you should be able to spot some dolphins. Campsite, car parking.
