Find the nearest Beaches in Kent
Planning a trip to the Kent 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 Kent 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 Kent 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 Kent beach visit should be.
OR
- Herne Bay is a popular Kent seaside town with a long promenade with the central part of the seafront including seafront gardens and a central bandstand housing a visitor centre. The beach is shingle with wooden groynes giving way to sandy mudflats at low tide and is a popular bathing area for families with amusements and amenities nearby. The sandy mudflats provide great opportunities for beachcombing with many prehistoric sharks’ teeth fossils on the foreshore. Facilities include beach huts, town centre shops, cafe, restaurants, toilets, lifeguards and parking.
- Dungeness is sparsely populated and Europe’s largest vegetated shingle split with steep pebbly banks. Anglers and bird watchers are more common than families with the RSPB maintains a reserve with hides. At the railway station you have a free parking, cafe and toilets just 5 minutes away. No facilities exist at Dungeness Point itself.
- Kingsdown Beach is part of a large stretch of shingle beach that at the southern end sits under large white chalk cliffs and towards the north is backed by grass areas. As the tide goes out you get areas of compact sand below the shingle bank and a chalk shelf. The beach is also known as Oldstairs Bay and located at the northern end of the White Cliffs of Dover, part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) that stretches to Folkestone, with the beach and nearby downs being home for migrating birds and rare plants. Facilities at the beach are limited but include parking on the road, nearby pubs, toilets, and beach huts.
- Tankerton Beach a sandy beach backed by a promenade. No parking so access is only for the local caravan parks or you have to use the bus stops along the road.
- East Beach is a pebble beach sitting to the east of Hampton Pier at the west end of Herne Bay, Kent. Hampton Pier is some 350 feet (110 m) long built on a curve of the coastline. Toilets, pub, grass park We have no dog information for Hampton Pier – East beach.
- Whitstable Beach is a pebble beach divided by wooden groynes and backed by colourful beach huts. A great selection of seafood restaurants, renowned oysters, and a good range of cafes make Whitstable a delight for foodies. Parking, beach huts and the facilities of Whitstable itself. We have no dog information for Whitstable beach.
- Louisa Bay is one of the seven sandy bays of Broadstairs in Kent, this is a sandy bay with rock pools and promenade. The beach is only approximately 150m long and all but disappears at high tide. Facilities at the beach include a cafe, chalets for hire, disabled access via a steep slope, although you are only walking distance from Viking Bay and the town centre.
- Pegwell Bay is a stretch of unprotected sea cliffs with great geological interest and a sandy bay. The bay is part of Kent’s largest National Nature Reserve. A full-size replica Scandinavian longboat ‘Hugin’, complete with shields stands on the cliff top overlooking the bay to commemorate the first Anglo-Saxon landings in England hereabouts. At the north east corner of the bay are the remains of a cross-channel hoverport that operated between 1969 until 1982. Facilities include toilets, cafe, parking and picnic area.
- Shakespeare Beach is the stretch of shingle beach to the west of Dover Harbour Admiralty Pier to the white chalk of Shakespeare Cliff. We have no dog information for Shakespeare beach.
- Dover Harbour beach is shingle and set within the harbour walls. Facilities include parking, promenade, toilets, cafe/restaurant and shops.
- Botany Bay is an old fashioned sandy beach ideal to keep the family entertained. The beach is almost 200m long with chalk cliffs and stacks, rock pools to explore and gentle swimming conditions. This part of the Kent coast boasts the longest stretch of chalk cliffs in Britain with Botany Bay being the northern most of seven bays in Broadstairs. When the tide goes out you have a chalk reef which is thought to be one of the best in Britain. You can also navigate around chalk stacks to Kingsgate Bay but be aware that as the tide comes in the ends of the beaches get cut-off and so you may have to walk back along the cliff path. Facilities include toilets, seasonal kiosk (hot and cold food), disabled access, deck chairs, windbreak hire, lifeguards in summer months and parking.
- Kingsgate Bay is a quiet and secluded sandy beach approximately 150 meters long and is one of the smaller of the Broadstairs bays. A great bay for those who like to get away from it all. The bay has white chalk cliffs and some of the best examples of sea caves in the country. You have steep steps down the cliffs and then no facilities once down there but this does mean it is not so busy as the other Broadstairs beaches, although you have a pub on the cliff over looking the bay.
