South Hams Beaches
South Hams beach guide
Bantham
A long stretch of fine sand, especially at low tide, backed by impressive dunes. There are plenty of rock pools, making it an ideal family beach. The beach forms a promontory into estuary of the River Avon and has magnificient panoramic views. Bantham is a popular beach with surfers and gets busy at times owing to its proximity to Plymouth.
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There is a safe bathing area with a lifeguard in attendance during the summer. Dogs are not permitted on main beach May to September. However around the corner to the estuary side, where there are fewer people, dogs are allowed all year round. There is a car park and other facilities within walking distance.
Beesands
Beesands has a mile long stretch of fine shingle beach, backed by grassland and Widdcombe Ley freshwater lake. These areas are important sites for wildlife. The small village sits behind a long shingle ridge that protects it from the sea. There is a free car park sands and other facilities at the nearby village. There is good access to beach and dogs are allowed here.
Bigbury-on-Sea
There is an excellent large beach in a secluded position serviced by a large car park. It is possible to walk across to Burgh Island at low tide or to ride there on a sea tractor. Low cliffs rise behind the beach, which lies on one side of the River Avon estuary.
The beach is a mainly sand with some shingle. There is disabled access to the beach and a slipway. There are also toilets, a shower, a beach café and a beach shop. It is possible to take a ferry across to Bantham. Lifeguards man the beach in the summer and there is a safe bathing area. Dogs are not allowed in the restricted area, and there is a separate area for moored bathing rafts.
Blackpool Sands
Pleasant little sand and shingle cove at the end of Start Bay, located between Dartmouth and Slapton. The beach is around two-thirds of a mile long with steep wooded cliffs to either side.
The beach is popular with families as it has plenty of facilities including café/restaurant, toilets, disabled access to the beach, and a slipway. The clean water and safe bathing have earned Blackpool Sands a Blue Flag award
Bovisand
This is a sandy beach, popular with surfers. There is parking nearby and a café. The bay is also very popular with divers as there are numerous wrecks around this part of the coast.
Challaborough
This is a beach made up of excellent fine sand with easy disabled access. It is sited in a sheltered horse shoe shaped cove, which is ideal for watersports. Safe bathing is ensured by the presence of lifeguards. At low tide there are rock pools for the family to explore. The coastal path runs from here along the cliffs of the South Devon coast.
East Portlemouth
This is a very popular sandy beach with parking, shop, café and toilets. This side of the Salcombe Estuary is lined by several beaches, and at low tide one can walk the entire length. These beaches include Fishermans Cove, Smalls Cove and the main Mill Bay Beach. The sand is fine and the beach is sheltered with fine views.
Bathing here is safe, making this an ideal family beach. Dogs are also allowed. A ferry runs to Salcombe from the Fishermans Cove steps.
Hallsands
For decades the fishing village of Hallsands had been at the mercy of the forces of nature until, on a stormy night in January 1917, the village collapsed into the sea, undermined by the commercial removal of shingle from the local beach. Today only a few ruins overlook the beach. This shingle beach in a sheltered cove is popular with nudists. There is disabled access and a beach shop and café.
Hallsands offers excellent fishing and there is free parking. It is also a favourite with divers exploring the many wrecks in this vicinity. South and North Hallsands are separated by a mile or so of coastline which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Hope Cove
Hope Cove is a sandy cove between rocky headlands with disabled access. There is parking, a beach shop, a café, a restaurant and pets are allowed. This is an ideal location for sailing and other water sports with an open beach and a slipway at Inner Hope.
The water is very clear and divers are attracted by the many shipwrecks in the area. Dolphins and seals can occasionally be seen swimming and diving in the cove. There is plenty of sand and rock pools for the family to enjoy.
Mill Bay
This privately owned beach is set in a cove across the estuary from Salcombe. It is a huge sheltered beach in beautiful surroundings, with fine golden sand, many rockpools and a stream running through. There are no lifeguards at the beach but it has excellent, safe bathing.
The beach is accessible by car and has a small car park with limited space but can be reached by passenger ferry from Salcombe. Alternatively, it is possible to park in East Portlemouth and follow the footpath down to the beach.
Mouthwell Sands
This is a small sandy beach with an array of rock pools at low tide. It is situated to the north of Hope Cove. The beach is surrounded by rocky outcrops giving it a rugged appearance. Dolphins and seals can often be seen swimming offshore. There is parking available, within a short walk from the beach, and a café plus other facilities nearby including a good choice of restaurants, a pub and a post office.
Salcombe
Salcombe has beaches at South Sands and North Sands. South Sands has limited parking and disabled access to the beach. There is a shop, a café and a restaurant, with other facilities nearby. The beach is sandy and there is a ferry crossing to Salcombe town.
North Sands also has disabled access to the beach and similar facilities, including limited parking. There is a small beach with fine golden sands.
Slapton Sands
The name Slapton Sands is a little misleading as the beach is mostly made up of shingle and tiny red pebbles. The beach is really a 2 and a half mile long shingle bankacross the bay forming a freshwater lake, Slapton Ley, behind. The Ley is the biggest body of freshwater in the south west and home to a variety of flora and fauna. The bank was created by glacial action during the last Ice Age.
The beach was commandeered by the allied forces in 1943 to rehearse for the D-Day Normandy Invasions. This involved the use of live ammunition so the whole are was evacuated for the duration of the operation. There is now a stone to comemmorate the ill-fated 'Operation Tiger' along with a Sherman tank parked in nearby Torcross.
An area at northern end of the beach (Pilchards Cove) is now also known as a popular naturists beach.
Thurlestone
This is a wide sandy beach backed by a nature reserve where rare birds have often been spotted. Surfing, windsurfing and canoeing are all popular on this beach and, during the summer months, a range of sports equipment can be hired on the beach.
There are two main beaches at Thurlestone. The smaller of these, Thurlestone Sands, is near to the local golf club, whilst the larger is a further along the coast in the direction of South Milton. Both have fine shingle and sand coverings and are in sheltered locations.
There are numerous car parks but few other facilities at Thurlestone Sands. There is no easy access for the disabled. Dogs are allowed on the beaches. There are more facilities on the larger beach.
Wembury
A small sandy beach with a beach shop, café and restaurant There is parking available. There are interesting offshore reefs, popular with divers. This is also a popular surfing spot.
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