Beaches in the UK
The best wild beach in the UK by our formula is Dulas Bay; the easiest beach day is Langland Beach. 1,883 named beaches in all, 770 in England, 292 in Wales, 776 in Scotland and 45 in Northern Ireland; 497 have an official bathing water grade.
Wild beaches: Top 10
Nature is the point: famous, protected, big and quiet
- Dulas BayIsle of Anglesey National Landscape · about 19 hectares
- Porlock BaySomersetExmoor National Park · about 14 hectares
- Worbarrow BayDorsetDorset National Landscape · about 5.6 hectares
- Booby's BayCornwallCornwall National Landscape · about 8.6 hectares · Excellent water (2025)
- Mewslade BaySwansea National Landscape · about 5.9 hectares
- Barafundle Baythe Pembrokeshire Coast National Park · about 5.0 hectares · Excellent water
- St Oswald's BayDorsetDorset National Landscape · about 1.2 hectares · Excellent water (2025)
- Porth CeiriadGwynedd National Landscape · about 7.6 hectares
- Fleet BayDumfries and GallowayFleet Valley National Scenic Area · about 29 hectares
- Morfa DyffrynGwynedd National Park · about 50 hectares
Easy beach days: Top 10
Cafe, toilets and parking a few steps from the sand
- Langland BeachSwanseaCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water
- Croyde BeachNorth DevonCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water (2025)
- Woolacombe SandsNorth DevonCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water (2025)
- East Strandthe Causeway CoastCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water (2026)
- Newgale Norththe Pembrokeshire CoastCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water
- Rotherslade BeachSwanseaCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water
- Broad Haven Beachthe Pembrokeshire CoastCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water
- Gyllyngvase BeachCornwallCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water (2025)
- Porthminster BeachCornwallCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water (2025)
- Hornsea SandsEast Riding of YorkshireCafe or food, Toilets, Parking, Lifeguards · Excellent water (2025)
Beaches in England
by council, most beaches first- Cornwall 205
- South Hams 61
- Isles of Scilly 56
- Dorset 32
- Tendring 31
- Torbay 28
- Northumberland 25
- Isle of Wight 24
- North Devon 21
- North Yorkshire 19
- East Riding of Yorkshire 17
- Teignbridge 15
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 14
- East Devon 13
- Thanet 13
- Torridge 11
- Folkestone and Hythe 9
- East Suffolk 8
- King's Lynn and West Norfolk 8
- North Somerset 8
- Somerset 8
- Cumberland 7
- Medway 7
- South Tyneside 7
- Chichester 6
- Dover 6
- New Forest 6
- Adur 5
- Bury 5
- Hartlepool 5
- North Tyneside 5
- Redcar and Cleveland 5
- Canterbury 4
- County Durham 4
- Hastings 4
- North Norfolk 4
- Portsmouth 4
- Brighton and Hove 3
- Doncaster 3
- Maldon 3
- Sefton 3
- Southend-on-Sea 3
- Swale 3
- Wirral 3
- Arun 2
- Gateshead 2
- Gosport 2
- Havant 2
- Lancaster 2
- Lewes 2
- Rother 2
- Sunderland 2
- Westmorland and Furness 2
- Blackpool 1
- Castle Point 1
- Central Bedfordshire 1
- East Hampshire 1
- Fareham 1
- Forest of Dean 1
- Gravesham 1
- Great Yarmouth 1
- Harlow 1
- Hounslow 1
- Maidstone 1
- Newark and Sherwood 1
- Newham 1
- Nuneaton and Bedworth 1
- Pendle 1
- Runnymede 1
- Tower Hamlets 1
- West Oxfordshire 1
- West Suffolk 1
- Worthing 1
- York 1
Beaches in Wales
by council, most beaches firstBeaches in Scotland
by council, most beaches first- Argyll and Bute 192
- Highland 142
- Na h-Eileanan Siar 140
- Shetland Islands 72
- Dumfries and Galloway 40
- Aberdeenshire 36
- Orkney Islands 36
- East Lothian 22
- Fife 20
- North Ayrshire 16
- Angus 11
- City of Edinburgh 10
- Scottish Borders 10
- Moray 9
- South Ayrshire 6
- Perth and Kinross 3
- Aberdeen City 2
- South Lanarkshire 2
- Stirling 2
- Dundee City 1
- East Renfrewshire 1
- Falkirk 1
- Inverclyde 1
- Renfrewshire 1
Beaches in Northern Ireland
by council, most beaches firstQuestions
How are the beaches ranked?
Two formulas, the same for every beach. Wild: how well known the beach is (its Wikipedia pages in all languages), whether it is in a national park, National Landscape or National Scenic Area, its size, and whether it is free of car parks and cafes. Easy: whether a cafe or other food, toilets, parking, lifeguards, showers and a bus stop are within a short walk. The official bathing water grade counts in both. Nobody picks or reorders them.
Where do the facilities come from?
From OpenStreetMap: cafes, toilets, car parks and lifeguard posts mapped within 300 metres of the sand, and bus stops within 400 metres (NaPTAN, and Translink in Northern Ireland). Something missing on a beach is often only missing from the map.
What do the water grades mean?
Each nation's environment agency grades its designated bathing waters every year as Excellent, Good, Sufficient or Poor, from samples taken through the summer. A beach shows the grade of the bathing water whose sampling point is within 400 metres of it. Most beaches are not designated bathing waters, so most have no grade.
Beaches © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Bathing water grades: Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, SEPA and DAERA (Open Government Licence). SeeSources.