Coast

Beaches

Beaches from our regional guides, with the official pages for water quality, lifeguards and safety. We do not show live conditions: those change by the hour.

Calm turquoise sea off Porthminster Beach, St Ives, with houses on the wooded hillside behind — Photo: ArildV, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Choose a coast

England
Cornwall
23 beaches with official links
England
Jurassic Coast
17 beaches with official links
Wales
Wales
4 beaches with official links
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
3 beaches with official links
Scotland
Edinburgh
1 beach with official links
Scotland
The Scottish Highlands
1 beach with official links
England
Liverpool
1 beach with official links

Wide sandy beach at Fistral, Newquay, with rocks in the foreground and the town beyond — Photo: Simon Cobb, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tides, cliffs and currents

These notes paraphrase official safety pages. Read the linked page before you go.

Red and yellow flags mark the lifeguarded zone, the safest place to swim or bodyboard. A red flag means nobody should enter the water, and black and white chequered flags are for craft such as paddleboards and kayaks, not swimmers. Met Office: 10 beach safety tips (opens in new tab)
An orange windsock means offshore wind. Do not use inflatables, because they can carry you out to sea. HM Coastguard: On the beach (opens in new tab)
A rip current is a channel of churning, choppy water or drifting debris running out to sea. If caught, do not fight it: wade if you can stand, otherwise swim parallel to the beach, raise a hand and call for help. Met Office: Understanding rip currents (opens in new tab)
Rising tides can trap people in bays, coves and on sandbars with little warning. Check tide times and the weather, go exploring as the tide falls, and learn the exit points. HM Coastguard: Coastal safety (opens in new tab)
Cliffs can be less stable than they look. Keep well back from edges and away from cliff bases, heed warning signs, and never climb a cliff as a shortcut. In an emergency call 999 and ask for the Coastguard. HM Coastguard: Coastal safety (opens in new tab)

Quiet stretch of sand at Portobello beach in Edinburgh under a pale blue sky — Photo: Richard Webb, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Official pages

Bathing water quality is classified and published by the national environment agencies. The classification changes each season and short-term pollution warnings can appear at any time, so we link to them instead of copying them.

England
Environment Agency: find a bathing water (opens in new tab)
Search designated bathing waters in England by name or postcode. Check the day before you swim; we do not show results here.
Wales
Environment Agency Wales: bathing water profiles (opens in new tab)
Natural Resources Wales says each designated bathing water in Wales has a profile describing the beach, the streams that feed it and how pollution is managed.
Scotland
SEPA: Scotland's bathing waters (opens in new tab)
SEPA says Scotland has over 80 designated bathing waters, monitored from May 15 to September 15, and advises against bathing during or for a day or two after heavy rain.
Northern Ireland
DAERA: bathing water quality (opens in new tab)
DAERA explains how Northern Ireland's 33 identified bathing waters are tested, with links to the yearly profiles.

See also parks and gardens and self-guided walks, including coast path sections.