Broadstairs or West Wittering...

[Tulipgold898]

Which beach should we visit today for our children’s first ever visit to the beach? (Other suggestions welcome- we are in south west London) thanks :D

West Wittering is book in advance parking. They were fully booked over the weekend so worth checking before you make a long journey.

The only thing I would say is that you need to prebook your parking at West Wittering and may already be booked up/full

Shoreham beach

Broadstairs has sand fleas so I wouldn’t go there

Ah thanks for the tip about pre booking parking. It’s fully booked today! Definitely want to avoid sand fleas. Any other suggestions...

It’s not a beach, but fensham ponds are lovely... but it will be busy

Camber Sands?

Joss bay is just along from Broadstairs and generally a little quieter, but it's anyone's guess about how busy it is today!

We really like Folkestone but get there in the High speed train from east London, takes 40 mins fabulous adventure playground beneath the kids and then a small beach with fish and chips. You need to look at the tide times too before you set off.

Thanks will check out some of these suggestions. What about beaches near Bournemouth Poole like Avon and Sandbanks?

Avon and Sandbanks are lovely. Also Lepe and New Milton. I'd go that way over West Wittering personally because of the traffic getting out of WW in the evening can be dire. Somewhere like Hill Head in Fareham is more understated and might be closer.

Camber sands.

Wish I knew what the situation is like at the beaches today! Have downloaded the beach check app but not sure if it’s accurate

Some beaches have web cams. Brighton for example

Really recommend getting the hovercraft from Southsea over to Ryde on the Isle of Wight, the beach there is sandy and it wasn't too busy this weekend.

We generally go on a parking app and park on someones drive at the seaside that they rent out, think it's £15 max for the day, but you have to do it in advance. We did it last year in the brief unlocking that was, went to Broadstairs, loved it, especially a great little coffee shop/sandwich bar we found there. We parked less than 5 minute walk from the beach.

Either you plan for an evening at the beach, or 11am is far too late to go!
It will be busy everywhere by the time you arrive, the sun will be at the worst for the kids.

Camber is really windy and is next to a pontins. When we went it was covered in glass booze bottles, I’d never go back. Go to broadstairs every year and never noticed sand fleas. Also like west wittering. We prefer Bournemouth.

Westgate and Westbrook (inbetween westgate and margate) beaches are nice but don't have promenades.

@superram

Camber is really windy and is next to a pontins. When we went it was covered in glass booze bottles, I’d never go back. Go to broadstairs every year and never noticed sand fleas. Also like west wittering. We prefer Bournemouth.

My mum lives local and they’ve been there every time I go and see her.

Sand fleas? Are they as hideous as they sound? (I know google would tell me more, but I’m not sure I want a lot of detail.)

Too late now but I might have headed to Southsea - straight down the A3. so much for little ones to see and do.

For future reference West Wittering is lovely but is about an hour or more from Chichester on a warm day, due to queuing traffic; it's better when weather is not so good.

You can go by train to Southsea easily or if you really wanted excitement, go to Ryde on IOW for a lovely little ones' day trip including a ferry trip.

So what did you choose OP in the end?