Beaches

Botany Bay has a sandy beach with clean sands and a Blue Flag award for water quality.

The bay has chalk cliffs, golden sands and some rock pools. There's a small car park but you can park on the nearby streets off Marine Drive. The approach to the beach has beach huts and flights of shallow steps.

There is an RNLI lifeguard service in high season and dogs are banned in... Read more

This sandy beach runs along Western Promenade next to Batemans Tower which is a historic local landmark. A parade of beach huts lines an attractive and enjoyable waterside walk where you can join the nature trail along the site of an old railway line to Alresford Creek. A range of sports and leisure activities are available along the promenade and sailing barges offer pleasure trips to visitors.

This is a sandy beach with a children's tidal swimming pool overlooking the Thames Estuary. There are some shops and cafes along the seafront.

Chalkwell beach is a way from the hustle and bustle of the main beach at Southend. It has a carpark nearby at Chalkwell Esplanade. It has local facilities including kiosks and cafes nearby and is just five minutes from Chalkwell Station

Clacton is the quintessential seaside town. The sandy beach has a pier, promenade, amusements and nearby parking. It's sandy beach is popular with families. There are water sports at the beach - kayaking, sailing, wind surfing and jet skiing.

Dovercourt Bay is a peaceful resort with lots of facilities for all the family. The beaches are sand and shingle, overlooking the ports of Harwich and Felixtowe. You can find a skate park nearby, a boating lake and a model yacht pond.

This wide sandy beach has remained uncommercialised but is a great spot for families. The sand is perfect for building castles or running around playing games. There aren't many cafes on the beach itself so take a picnic!

This tiny little beach at the end of the cobbled streets of Old Leigh is a pretty spot. The tide almost covers the sand when it comes in but it is sandy and popular with children. There are ice cream shops, cockle stalls and cafes nearby.

This blue flag beach is perfect for families with small children as it boasts a child safety wristband scheme. The beach is about a mile from Clacton town centre and there are all the usual facilities - cafe, deck chair hire, toilets etc. It is named after Martello Tower which by the beach.

Minnis Bay is a long family-friendly stretch of beach in the village of Birchington-on-Sea in an area known as the Isle of Thanet. It is east of the Thames Estuary, facing the North Sea midway between Herne Bay and Margate.

The Blue Flag beach has opportunities for watersports activities include sailing, windsurfing, paddling, kayaking and beach games. There's a paddling pool for youngsters... Read more