The Hatters Inn (West Sussex)

Bognor Regis Pier sits in the town centre and splits the beach. The pier has a small amusement arcade and is popular for pier fishing.  

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.

The East Beach at Bognor Regis is a pebble beach at high tide and sand at low tide. The beach runs from the pier up to the Butlins Holiday camp. Backing the beach is a wide flat concrete promenade with a selection of kiosks selling hot/cold drinks and food along with beach goodies. The east end of Bognor Regis beach is by Butlins Holiday camp and has facilities and a slipway for boats and is popular with jet skis. Car park and parking on the road (pay and display), toilets and showers, deck chair hire, seasonal children’s entertainment subject to weather conditions, slipway, kiosks. A land train runs the length of East Beach along the promenade and the town centre is just a short walk back from the promenade.

Aldwick beach is the continuation of a single long stretch of West Sussex pebble beaches. As with all beaches in this area you have pebbles only at high tide and then as the tide goes out you get compact sand. The tide goes out a long way giving lots of space and exposes some rocks to explore. The beach has some colourful beach huts and a small beachside cafe that has tables and sells hot and cold food. The beach here also has some small fishing boats that get pulled onto the beach. Behind the beach you have Marine Park that gives an alternative to the pebbles and sand and also some more space whilst the tide is in. Beach huts, beach cafe selling hot and cold food, parking (pay and display Apr-Sept and free Oct – Mar), gardens and grass area.

Felpham beach is a combination of pebbles and sand divided by groynes like most the West Sussex beaches. As the tide goes out you have rock pools and large areas of flat beach. At the back of the beach you have rows of beach huts with nice grass areas in front. Felpham beach sits next to Bognor Regis beaches and is more built up with concrete promenade than its more easterly neighbours of Middleton-on-Sea, Elmer Sands and Climping. Felpham beach tends to attract more locals than tourists as it located behind the village, with most tourists heading to Bognor Regis. Facilities include cafe, shop, toilets, beach huts, promenade, Felpham sailing club, tennis courts and putting green. Parking can be hard on a summer day but you can park either in the side roads or there is a large car park in the village.

Middleton-on-Sea beach is a great family beach that has a high water pebble area and then sands at mid to low tide when you can walk for miles in either direction to Bognor Regis or Littlehampton. The beach has a high pebble bank with some grass area, but the pebbles can be steep to go down. You have good rock pools at low tide around the rock coastal defence that sits off the beach towards Elmer and these sea defence rocks also provide some natural protection from any on-shore wind. It is very hard to park by Middleton-on-Sea beach as the area is backed by private gated estates with no vehicle access, although a few public footpaths lead from the main road to the beach with some parking (postcode PO22 7SR) in the village centre. On a positive, due to parking difficulties, you will always have plenty of space to spread out. You have no facilities on the beach but close by in Middleton-on-Sea you have a couple of pubs, chippy, cafe and shops.