Dog friendly beaches on the Isle of Wight

[MagratGarlikAgain]

Hi All

We're looking at possible holiday destinations for next summer (I know, I know)... and were looking at the Isle of Wight as a possibility. Neither dh, nor I have ever been, but we'd be going in the middle of the summer holidays and have 2 dogs.

The main criteria for a holiday for me is:

1. Self-catering;
   
2. Within spitting distance of a beach;
   
3. Beach must be dog-friendly all year round
   

I've had a look on the IoW council website, but on some pages they state there is a blanket dog ban on all beaches during the summer (which would rule it out as a destination for us), whilst other parts of the website imply the dog ban applies to only certain beaches (which I could live with).

Anybody been to the IoW in recent summer months with a dog who could shed some light on this, please? If so, do you have any recommendations for dog-friendly self-catered cottages close to dog-friendly beaches?

TIA

[MagratGarlikAgain]

Bump?

[Lonecatwithkitten]

In the summer many of the IOW beaches have restrictions on what part of the beach dogs can go on. There are detailed boards at each beach describing what dog access is allowed. There are many, many non-beach places to walk. In the winter IOW beaches belong to dogs.

[MagratGarlikAgain]

Thanks for the reply. If dogs are heavily restricted on the beach, I think we'll look at going somewhere else then. It's a pain if we can't take the dogs onto the beach because most holiday cottages don't let you leave the dogs in the cottage, which means a beach-free holiday for the dc.

It's a pity.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

We went to the Isle of Wight this year and it is a lovely place. We have lots of dog friendly beaches here in Suffolk though. Southwold is off limits in the summer but Walberswick, Dunwich and Sizewell are definitely dog friendly all year, as are a few others. You do get holiday makers shouting at you to put your perfectly normal friendly dog on the lead but you just have to ignore them.

[MagratGarlikAgain]

Thanks for the reply. Seems a pity so many of the beaches are not dog friendly.

I never understand why, when there are a large range of "dogs banned in summer" beaches everywhere, people who do not like dogs insist on using the (very few) dog friendly beaches! Why don't they just take their pick from the many dogs banned places, or will some people not be happy until there is nowhere to take dogs on the beach?

Gah!

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

I know. Walberswick is very fashionable with the second home owners though. We get a lot of Londoners holiday here, always the same types, braying at us to keep our dogs under control, when the dogs are just as bored of all the crowds of people on the beach as we are. I have been known on the odd occasion to say 'dogs are allowed on the beach all year, look it up'. 😄 We like it in the winter when we've got the beach back to ourselves.

[MagratGarlikAgain]

We live as far away from the beach as it is possible to live in Britain, so it's a real treat to be able to go to the seaside and not have to avoid the beach. We live too far away from the coast for day-trips in winter too .

Last year we went to Ireland and it was fantastic - dogs allowed off lead on the many empty, sandy beaches. Beautiful, but we'd like to try somewhere different this year.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Well I can heartily recommend Suffolk. It's beautiful. 😄

I love your username by the way. 😉

[MagratGarlikAgain]

Thanks - I'll take a look.

Love your username too!

[peasareevilcreatures]

It's not a blanket ban on the iow, there are dog friendly beaches
www.campsitechatter.com/specialisms/dog-friendly-beaches/isle-of-wight#.VnP8sfmLSUk

I was looking to see if Thorness Bay was one as that is a lovely campsite but it seems the beach has restrictions.

[MagratGarlikAgain]

Thanks. We've booked to go elsewhere though now (where I know the closest beach is dog friendly). It's so frustrating that places put so many dog bans in place in the summer - a few I can understand, but sometimes it is almost impossible to find a dog friendly beach in some areas.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Dorset lists beach statuses all on line so brilliant for dog friendly holidays.

[MagratGarlikAgain]

I used a website called thebeachguide.co.uk which seems to have quite good info on dog friendly beaches, but it is a pain when trying to figure out whether the cottage you are about to book is close to a dog friendly beach or a dog banned one! Why don't owners just list this info in their adverts? I'd be much more likely to book a cottage already listed as dog friendly if I knew the nearest beach was too!

[BlackMarigold]

Mersey Island near Colchester is my favourite dog walking place, especially [[http://www.visitparks.co.uk/places/cudmore-grove/ East Mersea. Dogs allowed on beach all year and beautiful scenery and wildlife.

[BlackMarigold]

link fail East Mersea

[MagratGarlikAgain]

Thanks. I've never heard of that. Looks nice.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Southwold town council are trying to get the main beach off limits all year round to dogs now. As the majority of the people here in the winter are dog walkers I think they're shooting themselves in the foot. Probably a minority spoiling it for the majority as usual.

[MagratGarlikAgain]

It's ridiculous. I get it that non-dog people don't want to go to beaches with dogs on during the summer. I don't have a problem with there being dog restricted/banned beaches. It would be nice though if each area had at least some beaches which were dog friendly and made the information as to the location of dog friendly beaches much clearer.