Get beach ready! Check out our coast’s hottest spots!

Gently sloping sands, donkey rides, piers and ice-creams, who doesn’t love a day at the seaside? Explore our round-up of safe, family-friendly beaches for children of all ages.

Dorset’s stunning Jurassic Coast is strewn with family favourite resorts, head to the sands at Weymouth, Lyme Regis or Swanage, all perfect for paddling in safe, clean waters, for building sandcastles and beach games.  Or visit Knoll Head at Studland Bay, backed by rolling sand dunes, ideal for exploring and spotting sand lizards. 

With 15 miles of sandy beaches between them, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole boast space for all, Poole Harbour’s sheltered waters are ideal for learning water sports, Sandbanks beach is considered one of the UK’s finest with jaw-dropping views to Brownsea Island and beyond. 

Across the water, at 22.5 miles long, you’re never far from a great beach on the Isle of Wight. Cliffs, coves, secret inlets and rock pools galore make this a child’s delight. Ryde’s gently-sloping shelf to the sea is ideal for youngsters or visit bucket-and-spade Shanklin or Sandown. For water sports adventure, opt for Bembridge and for sailing it has to be Cowes, but the Isle has scores of safe, sandy beaches many with beach huts and cafes ideal for family fun. 

Yorkshire’s vast sweep of coastline features some of the coast’s best-loved family gems, for family days out and short breaks, Bridlington is hard to beat with its white-sand north and south beaches or explore the bustling prom and amusements at Hornsea, the Blue Flag beach at Withernsea or seven-mile sands at Filey. 

Rock pools and fossil-hunting await at Sandsend near Whitby, while the Victorian architecture at Scarborough is iconic, its North and South Bay beaches a great mix of soft sand and tidal areas.   

In north Yorkshire, Redcar Beacon offers breath-taking panoramic views, from South Gare to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, there are eight miles of unbroken sands while Cayton Bay’s magnificent wide sweep offers beautiful clear waters, dog-friendly year-round. 

The Lincolnshire coast offers the best of both worlds, fun, attraction-filled resorts like Skegness, Cleethorpes and Mablethorpe alongside peaceful nature resorts where breeding seals, migrating birds and wildflowers abound, think Anderby Creek, Sutton on Sea or Chapel Point. 

Prime sandcastle sand carpets the Lancashire beaches of Blackpool, Morecambe, St Anne’s and Cleveleys, come for donkey rides, ice cream and all the fun of the fair while Fleetwood is the place for budding crabbers. 

Explore some of the best beaches for water sports but also top picks for a lively vibe after dark.

The waters around England’s coast are the perfect playground for water sports. Hot spots include Studland Bay, Poole and Portland harbours in Dorset, Freshwater and Compton in the Isle of Wight for surfing and kayaking and of course, the myriad choice in the south west. 

However, in north Yorkshire, Saltburn is considered the biggest draw for surfing and rated among the top 10 places in the UK. Surf schools abound and conditions are ideal for beginners or intermediates wanting to progress. Cayton Bay and North Bay in Scarborough are also popular spots and wind conditions make this costal stretch excellent for windsurfing. 

Further north, Adventure Access on the Durham Heritage Coast provides sports for everyone, options include paddleboarding, sailing, canoeing, surfing and windsurfing. There are also school holiday classes for youngsters of all abilities. Check out sunrise yoga, SUP and sauna sessions. 

The wide, sandy beaches and shallow, flat waters of Hunstanton in Norfolk make this a great choice for beginners.  Come for kite surfing, wind surfing, SUP and power kiting and there is a clutch of water sports schools providing all equipment and lessons. 

Thanks to its fantastic waterfront, Plymouth boasts excellent conditions for both high octane sports like wakeboarding or coasteering or kayaking or SUP.  Water sports schools are on hand for sailing, powerboating and windsurfing in the surrounding estuaries, coves and bays. 

Plymouth Sound offers some of the best diving waters in the UK with a choice of wreck diving through to shallow water dives, great for spotting marine life. Wembury and Bovisand beaches near Plymouth are ideal for kayaking and SUP. 

Aprés sea, this Ocean City also has the advantage of a thriving night scene with a great mix of clubs, comedy, live music and theatre. 

If you’re looking for beaches annexed to buzzing resorts, Brighton has a vibe of its own, regularly voted in the top 10 beach cities in the world. 

Kayak, SUP, play volleyball by day then explore the Artists’ Quarter by Brighton Palace Pier at night, alongside are a host of bars and restaurants while the arches by West Pier are home to traders, the Victorian beachfront arches offer a range of pulsating nightclubs.  

Essex’s fun-filled resorts of Southend- and Clacton-on-Sea have been a draw for generations thanks to their wide sandy beaches and packed entertainment calendar. Ideal for families and couples, a visit here guarantees all the fun of the fair and plenty to do whatever the weather.  In addition, the nature reserves and mudflats have made this coast increasingly popular with wildlife watchers, particularly for migrating birds and seals.  

Being just a short hop from London has given the Isle of Thanet more than a century of day-trippers. For a lively buzz, great restaurants and superb beaches, head to Margate and enjoy superb galleries, restaurants, kitsch ice-cream parlours but above all, its inviting sandy beach. 

That said, there are beautiful beaches strung all around this Isle, check out the chalk stacks at Botany Bay, the surf at Joss Bay, horse-shoe shaped Viking Bay in Broadstairs as well as rock pools at Stone Bay and water sports at Minnis Bay. In all there are 16 beaches and bays – adrenaline-packed action or snooze in the sun – the choice is yours. 

While the Beach Check app is no longer available, explore more coastal blogs here and choose where to go.