There are beaches and then there are award-winning beaches that have an official mark of true quality. CHRISSY HARRIS rounds-up the best of the best.
Curracloe, Co Wexford
If you’re after award-winning beaches on the Irish coast, Curracloe holds Ireland’s Best Beach 2024, as voted for by readers of the Irish Independent. They applaud its beautiful golden sands that stretch as far as the eye can see. They also love the balance of isolation and just enough infrastructure, including user-friendly parking.
Curracloe rarely gets crowded and the waters are cool and calm. One local fan commented: “Curracloe is “like a beach abroad. It feels like you’re out foreign”. Perfectly put.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Take a forest loop walk. Two wildlife rich worlds collide on the trails that take you through the woods at Raven Nature Reserve, just next to Curracloe beach.
AND ANOTHER THING: Curracloe beach was famously used in the D-Day landings scenes of the 1997 film Saving Private Ryan, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg.
Barafundle Bay, Pembrokeshire
Said to be one of the best award-winning beaches in the world and the winner of numerous accolades, this Welsh wonder is remote with limited access, making it all the more magical when you eventually get the sand between your toes.
The bay, backed by pine trees and surrounded by rugged cliffs, can be reached only on foot via the coast path. There’s a half-mile long route from the nearby village of Stackpole or else it’s a 1.3 mile walk from Broad Haven South. Each approach will offer you plenty of photo opps. But switch on as you get closer to concentrate on the uneven terrain and steep steps.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Picnic. Barafundle has been named the best picnic spot in the UK and it’s easy to see why. Firstly, there’s a lack of café/ice cream vans/shops about, so you’ve got to BYO. But secondly, it’s beautiful. Even a slightly squashed sarnie will taste like heaven here.
AND ANOTHER THING: You can approach via the water. Stackpole Quay is a great place to launch a kayak to paddle around to Barafundle Bay, exploring the cliffs and inlets as you go.
Oddicome, Devon
Oddicombe is one of only two award-winning beaches in the UK to have scooped the Blue Flag Award every year since the internationally recognised scheme was launched 37 years ago. (The other contender is Sandbanks in Dorset).
As well as meeting high standards, Oddicombe is fun to get to. The Babbacombe Cliff Railway has been taking beachgoers up and down the tracks since 1926. Other options include making your descent along the steep pathways or the road. There is also a drop-off point for disabled visitors.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Dine in or out. Three Degrees West is a bar and bistro right beside the waves at Oddicombe, with plenty of space inside and out. Breakfast done here in any sort of weather is especially good. The Three Degrees West team also help the local council to manage the beach.
AND ANOTHER THING: Geological forces are at work. Oddicombe is an English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark Key Site, with interesting cliff formations and distinctive red sandstone. It can make the top section of the beach prone to cliff falls, so take care and observe the signs.
Whitley Bay Beach, Tyne and Wear
A huge stretch of sand and a wide promenade have made Whitley Bay beach a hit with generations of visitors. It’s another regular Blue Flag winner and has an award from the Marine Conservation Society for its water quality. The general happy holiday vibes in this part of the world are helped by the fact the bay is home to Spanish City, an historic and fancy venue brought back to life with family friendly restaurants, fine dining and a Champagne bar.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Source a bucket and spade. And spoons. And rulers. The annual Whitley Bay sandcastle competition in the summer attracts hundreds of hopefuls, eager to show off their grand designs.
AND ANOTHER THING: Get back to the beach in time for low tide to see the seaweed-covered rocks and rockpools.
Shoebury East Beach, Essex
There’s lots going on here at the moment as part of a £2 million regeneration scheme to bring outdoor dining to this Blue Flag beach. A new cafe has arrived with another in progress. Some have concerns about progress affecting the peace and quiet of this stretch of coast that’s always felt like a nice gear change from the busy, amusement-filled seafront. But East Beach remains a refreshing escape, with added food and drink facilities.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Learn to kitesurf. East Beach has a designated area for the exhilarating watersport and is home to Essex Kitesurf School, which offers a range of courses for beginners and pros.
AND ANOTHER THING: East Beach is crowned with a magnificent grassy hinterland, ideal for family picnics.
Fistral Beach, Cornwall
Think of award-winning beaches in Cornwall and it’ll look a lot like Fistral. Golden sands and wild Atlantic swells make it a must-visit for surfers who flock here from all over the world. Big competitions take place here every year, including Boardmasters Surf Championships and the highly esteemed Rip Curl Grom Search (a grom – short for grommet – is a young surfer). However, you don’t have to bring a board to appreciate the vast stretch of sand and powerful six-to-eight-foot waves that make Fistral an international favourite. Last year, the beach was named as one of the best in Europe by travel guidance platform Tripadvisor.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Hit the hut. The headland around Fistral is part of the South West Coast Path. The clifftop route leads you to the historic huer’s hut on Towan head, a lookout point, once used to spot shoals of pilchards in the bay.
AND ANOTHER THING: Prepare to be enchanted by the legendary Fistral sunset. Take a blanket, sit back and enjoy the view. Still got energy to burn? Fistral Beach Surf School offers sunset sessions in the waves.
Bexhill Beach, East Sussex
Brighton usually gets all the glory on the East Sussex coast, but Bexhill has just been recognised for upping its game. The seaside town’s long, sloping beach has won its first Seaside Award by Keep Britain Tidy. The scheme is the nationwide standard for the UK’s best award-winning beaches. Bexhill beach, like many others around here, is mainly shingle, held in place by a series of wooden groynes (that crossword clue word you can never remember). At low tide, there is a good expanse of hard sand and rockpools to keep the kids busy.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Rent a beach hut, available on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Some are kitted out with water and a gas stove. Another has a veranda. Posh!
AND ANOTHER THING: A stroll along the seafront will bring you to the curved and Grade I-listed De La Warr Pavilion, built in 1935. The building, named after the 9th Earl De La Warr, a politician and Lord Privy Seal, is a venue for theatre, concerts, comedy, films and art exhibitions.
Louisa Bay, Kent
Another small but perfectly formed beach that’s also recently won its first Seaside Award. It’s the quieter neighbour of Viking Bay and popular with families and dog walkers who want to escape the Broadstairs crowds. There are rockpools-a-plenty here on this chalky shore and organised seashore safaris to help you tell your winkles from your whelks.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Have a bacon buttie and a brew at the Louisa Bay Cafe, open between April and September.
AND ANOTHER THING: Charles Dickens was a big Broadstairs fan. The writer first came to this part of the Kent coast in 1837, aged 25 and kept coming back for the next two decades.
Cromer Beach, Norfolk
This is up there as being one of the best of its kind to visit in the country, according to data taken from the top 300 beaches in England on Tripadvisor last summer.
Cromer is also one of only a few Blue Flag beaches along the Norfolk coast and offers everything you’d want from a traditional seaside holiday: sand, sea perfect for paddling and a stroll along the prom, prom prom. If the sun isn’t included in the package, Cromer’s Victorian pier (this year’s Pier of the Year) has a theatre which hosts a variety show throughout the summer until September 28.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Sit back and watch the crabbing boats do their thing before trying your hand at catching a few of the area’s famous crustaceans off the pier. Mackerel or squid is the best bait to use.
AND ANOTHER THING: The Cromer Lighthouse circular walk is a fantastic beach, cliff and heathland walk which makes the most of the views along this part of the coast.
Yellowcraig Beach, East Lothian
A real locals’ favourite that’s regularly named in Scotland’s Beach Awards, organised each year by environmental organisation Keep Scotland Beautiful. The stunning stretch of sand, surrounded by ecologically important forest and grassland, has also been declared ‘one of Scotland’s best seaside gems’ by Condé Nast Traveller magazine.
Nature is the pull-factor for many visitors here, with orchids in the grassland and seabirds turning in the sky. But Yellowcraig – also known as Broad Sands Bay – has enough to keep the family entertained. Spend the day sandcastle building and rockpooling, plus there’s a handy children’s play area just off the main path towards the beach.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Stay the night. Yellowcraig is a popular spot for wild camping, as long as you play by the rules.
AND ANOTHER THING: From the shore at Yellowcraig, you can see Fidra Island, said to have been the inspiration for novelist Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. It’s now an RSPB reserve.
REAPING THE REWARDS OF AWARDS
One of the most prestigious beach schemes in England are the Blue Flag and Seaside Awards, run by Keep Britain Tidy. They celebrate the quality and diversity of our coastline and help to ensure visitors enjoy a clean, safe, attractive and well-managed beach experience.
This year, 74 sites received a Blue Flag and 136 beaches got a Seaside Award. A total of 61 sites scooped both.
When Louisa Bay scooped its first Seaside Award this year it meant the smallest of Thanet’s 16 bays is doing all the right things in terms of visitor information, water quality, health and safety and environmental management, safety and service.
It takes a team effort to reach such high standards. Officers from Thanet District Council’s Waste and Recycling team visit Louisa Bay twice a day in the summer season to empty general waste and recycling bins and carry out litter picks.
In the height of the summer season, volunteer groups also carry out litter picks on the beach.
The rocky shore at Louisa Bay is part of the NE Kent Marine Protected Area, with numerous conservation designations for marine and bird life.
Thanet District Council’s Thanet Coast Project (TCP) volunteer coastal wardens adopt and help look after the local bays. Volunteers also help to control invasive species within the small tidal pool situated between Viking Bay and Louisa Bay.
