Have you been to Camber Sands? Is it nice?

[Montuaklighthouse]

Have been given an sort of, open invite to use a friends parents holiday place in Camber Sands at ‘mates rates’, which is lovely and generous. So am wondering what it’s like as haven’t ever been to that part of the south coastline.

Have you been? What’s it like?

We have 3 kids (2 primary age, 1 older) if that makes any difference..

Went as a child to Pontins! I think I won a competition. There is a photo in the family album of me holding a number on stage. I was about 3. I still remember the name all these years later so it must've had something going for it 😂

Is that the caravan park on The Inbetweeners?

People saying avoid Pontins... what's the Parkdean holiday park like? DH keeps suggesting it as it would be ideal for our three year old, but I suspect it would be a bit grim.

It’s a huge beach and can get very busy on a hot day.

Great minds 😁

I wouldn't let children swim there however confident. Very dangerous. The surrounding area is run down and depressing.

Indeed

We stay on the beach there every year and have done since the DCs were small. It's lovely, especially in the mornings and evenings when daytrippers have yet to arrive/have left. Yes, there are rip tides and you need to have your wits about you when the tide is coming in but it's a beautiful location for a beach holiday and our teens look forward to going every year. We do visit Rye at least once whilst we're there (the Kino often has good deals on) and usually go to Dymchurch to go on the steam train or to try our luck on the 2p machines but mostly, we enjoy being so close to the beach and its ever-changing landscape.

Much nicer.

We've done the Dymchurch holiday park a couple of times (cheaper but similar) and it's always been lovely.

Pontins is perfect if you want to listen to other people's music from 8am to 2am and feel smug about how good your own parenting is compared to others. I don't think we'll go back there although it was incredibly cheap.

Be careful in the sea.. a few years ago an number of people died

It's a very scenic beach but please respect the sea however calm it seems.
The beach gets really busy so make sure you have something on show to landmark where you are incase someone goes off for ice cream etc
You won't be bored there's loads to do, the light railway, animal parks, boat rides on the canal, castles, there's also an inflatable water obstacle course nearby too
Have fun!

Wow, thanks everyone for all the great local tips :-)

I’m feeling slightly paranoid about the sea / tide now though. Does it come in really quickly there and that’s what causes the danger? I’m probably being very thick, but don’t actually know what a riptide is!😬

The beach is beautiful, always reminds me of the South of France.
The rip tides are literally a killer... but teach your children to be safe on the beach/where not to enter the sea and you'll be fine. Teaching children about rip tides can save their life when they're older

Rip tides are strong currents that can be hard to spot.
They can be very dangerous.

Beautiful. X

Thanks @MargaretThursday 😁 I certainly won't be going to Pontins, that sounds like my idea of actual hell! Good to know the Parkdean one is better.

We went for the day last year (well I say the day, we went for 3 hours as the parking charges were ridiculous!). Beach was lovely but unless there is something we missed there isn't a fat lot else there.

I've never been but remember the name from the news, the sea is very dangerous.

Anyone who doesn't know what a rip tide is should definitely research it before going in the sea especially with kids.

A bunch of us went to camber age 20 on one of those bargain newspaper voucher offers, had a great time! I remember visiting Hastings too