hips don't lie: Best websites for beaches: How to find the right sands for you

By

Fred Mawer

PUBLISHED:

04:11 EST, 12 July 2013

|

UPDATED:

04:11 EST, 12 July 2013

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The fantastic weather we’re enjoying means it’s time to head to the beach. But

which one? I’ve picked out some websites that will point you in the right

direction of Britain’s best beaches, and also identified others that will help

you find a prime stretch of sand when you are abroad.

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Sandtastic! Surfing the web can help you find the perfect spot beside the seaside…

www.goodbeachguide.co.uk

The Marine Conservation Society’s Good Beach Guide website is the prime

resource for finding a beach in the UK with clean water to swim in. It

recommends 403 beaches with excellent quality bathing water. For each of these

- and for many of the other 750 beaches featured on the website – you will find

useful, succinct details, covering not only the water quality, but also whether

there are lifeguards, loos, a café, if dogs are allowed or not (and when), and

what there is to do on or by the beach, from surfing to going to a funfair.

Good, simple search facilities, with filters for the grade of water quality,

the presence of lifeguards and the level of facilities, let you find a beach

that’s right for you wherever you are.

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Safety first: If you’re a keen sea swimmer, make sure you head to a beach where there are lifeguards

www.keepwalestidy.org

Click on the Welsh Beaches section of this website, and you’ll find copious

amounts of well-displayed information on over 150 of Wales’ best beaches. For

each, there’s a photo and detailed description, essential practical info

(lifeguards, dogs, parking etc), a list of facilities, chapter and verse on

getting there, and a run-down of the history, culture and wildlife of the

beach, plus nearby attractions. The website also identifies beaches that have

been given Blue Flag, Seaside and Green Coast awards. The lesser-known Green

Coast scheme highlights Welsh beaches with top-quality bathing water that also

are “prized for their natural, unspoiled environment”. (If only there

was similar-quality beach info the rest of the UK: the Keep Britain Tidy

website does little more than list Blue Flag and Seaside Award beaches.)

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Animal magic: Plan ahead and find out where your beloved hound can go too, and right, there are plenty of beaches where you can learn about coastal wildlife.

www.blueflag.org

Some 3,850 beaches (and some marinas), spread over 48 countries around the

world, now feature in the ever-growing Blue Flag programme. To be allowed to

fly the famous blue flag, beaches must meet certain minimum standards, in terms

of water quality, management, safety and services – and Blue Flag status lasts

for one season at a time. A simple search will reveal Blue Flag beaches, plotted

on maps, in lots of holiday destinations – from Brittany to the United Arab

Emirates and New Zealand. However, information given on the beaches is of mixed

quality.

www.beachtomato.com

Beach Tomato describes itself as “the best of beach lifestyle and

culture”. Though the website is a bit of a nightmare to navigate and find

stuff, it’s good for a browse – think of it as a magazine. Dig around, and you

may come across tips on how to make sand sculptures, advice on the latest

swimwear and make-up for the beach, secret beaches in Britain, best beaches in

Cuba and Grenada etc. There are also recommended villas and hotels for beach

breaks.

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Moats and turrets are so passe, it’s all about the sand sculpture this year…

www.thebeachfrontclub.com

Want a hotel right on the beach? Then turn to The Beachfront Club. It

features some 7,500 on-the-beach hotels around the world. You’re shown the

exact location on detailed maps of every hotel, including the boundaries of the

properties and how they relate to the adjacent beach. Contact details and basic

information on facilities for featured hotels are also provided. Note, however,

there are only 10 listed British hotels – all of which are in Devon and

Cornwall.

www.rnli.org

The beach safety advice on the website for the Royal National Lifeboat

Institution is definitely worth a browse. It will tell you what the different

safety flags mean, and dangers such as rip currents are highlighted. There’s

also an engaging, short video on beach safety, and an On The Beach leaflet to

download, which includes further tips on subjects such as what to do if stung

by a weever fish or jellyfish, and the dangers of tombstoning.

And the winner is…

The Good Beach Guide website. It’s the best starting point for finding a beach where it’s good to have a swim in the UK, and contains lots of other useful info. The Keep Wales Tidy website is a brilliant resource too.

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