🏖️ South Hams Beaches Guide
Parking, dog rules, facilities, tide access and local tips for every beach in the South Hams — everything you need before you leave home.
🐕 Dog Rules at a Glance — South Hams Beaches 2026
Bantham Beach
✅ Dogs welcome ALL year
Bigbury-on-Sea
⚠️ No dogs 1 May – 30 Sep (main beach)
Hope Cove (Inner)
⚠️ No dogs 1 May – 30 Sep
Hope Cove (Outer)
✅ Dogs welcome ALL year
Thurlestone Sands
✅ Dogs welcome ALL year
Salcombe North Sands
⚠️ No dogs 1 May – 30 Sep
Salcombe South Sands
✅ Dogs welcome ALL year
Slapton Sands
✅ Dogs welcome ALL year
🅿️ Parking
National Trust
Pay & display — fills fast in summer
🐕 Dogs
✅ All year
No restrictions — dog heaven
🚿 Facilities
Basic
Toilets in car park. No showers.
🌊 Swimming
Strong currents
River mouth rip — watch children
⏱️ Best Tide
Low–Mid incoming
Beach disappears at high water
📶 Signal
Patchy
Download maps before visiting
Bantham is the jewel of the South Hams coast — a beautiful, unspoilt beach at the mouth of the River Avon, backed by dunes and with views across to Burgh Island. It's South Devon's premier surf beach, producing long, peeling left-handers on the rivermouth bar when the swell is up. Off-season it's gloriously quiet. In summer it gets busy but never feels overcrowded — there's no promenade, no arcades, no amusements. Just beach, dunes and the estuary behind.
The National Trust car park fills completely by 10am on summer weekends. There is absolutely no roadside parking in the village — you will get turned away. Arrive before 9am or come mid-week.
🅿️ Parking
Large cliff-top
Pay & display. Views of Burgh Island.
🐕 Dogs
⚠️ Seasonal ban
No dogs 1 May – 30 Sep
🚿 Facilities
Good
Toilets, café, surf hire, RNLI
🌊 Swimming
Generally safe
RNLI lifeguards in season
🏝️ Burgh Island
Walk at low tide
Sea tractor at high water (paid)
🏄 Surf hire
Available
Boards & lessons on the beach
Bigbury-on-Sea is a classic British seaside beach — wide, sandy and great for families. The main attraction is Burgh Island, visible from the beach and accessible on foot across the sand at low tide or by the famous sea tractor at high water. The beach faces SW into Bigbury Bay and catches Atlantic swell — good for beginner and intermediate surfing, with RNLI lifeguards patrolling in season. The south corner near Burgh Island is sheltered and often calmer than the main beach.
Walk to Burgh Island at low tide — it takes about 10 minutes across the sand and the Pilchard Inn is worth the trip. Check tide times before you go so you know your window. The sea tractor operates seasonally and costs a few pounds each way.
🅿️ Parking
Village car park
Pay & display. Walk to beach.
🐕 Dogs
⚠️ Inner Cove: seasonal
Outer Cove: dogs all year ✅
🚿 Facilities
Good
Toilets, café, pub in village
🌊 Swimming
Excellent
Very sheltered — ideal for children
📍 Location
Between Bolt Tail & Bolt Head
4 miles W of Salcombe
🥇 Best for
Young families
Shallow, calm, beautiful village
Hope Cove is one of the most unspoilt places on the South Devon coast — a classic thatched fishing village that somehow hasn't been ruined. The Inner Cove is sheltered and shallow, perfect for toddlers and nervous swimmers. The Outer Cove (Mouthwell Sands) is slightly more exposed and great for snorkelling around the rocks. The coastal path from Hope Cove east towards Salcombe and west towards Bantham is some of the finest walking in Devon — dramatic cliffs, wildflowers in spring and buzzards overhead.
The Hope & Anchor pub is 50 metres from the Inner Cove — possibly the shortest post-swim walk to a pint in Devon. Arrive at opening time on summer weekends or you won't get a table.
🅿️ Parking
Village car park
Short walk down to beach
🐕 Dogs
✅ All year
No restrictions
🏛️ Landmark
The Thurlestone Rock
Famous natural rock arch offshore
🌊 Swimming
Good
Watch for rips in bigger swell
🚿 Facilities
Basic
Toilets nearby. Pub in village.
🚶 To Bantham
~2.5 miles
Stunning coastal path walk
Thurlestone Sands is named after the famous rock arch offshore — "thurlestone" means "pierced stone" in Old English. A lovely beach that's slightly off the tourist radar compared to Bantham and Bigbury. Good for surfing and bodyboarding when a SW swell is running, and the coastal path east and west is magnificent. The walk to Bantham along the clifftops is one of the best short walks in South Devon — about an hour each way and completely unspoilt.
The path from Thurlestone to Bantham passes above the cliffs at South Milton Sands — look out for seals hauled out on the rocks below in autumn and winter.
🅿️ North Sands
Small car park
Fills fast — or walk from town
🅿️ South Sands
Car park & ferry
Ferry from Salcombe town April–Oct
🐕 North Sands
⚠️ No dogs May–Sep
Dogs welcome Oct–Apr
🐕 South Sands
✅ Dogs all year
No restrictions
🌊 Swimming
Excellent
Sheltered estuary — calm water
⛵ Boat access
Dinghy landing
Anchor off — dinghy ashore easily
Salcombe's two main beaches sit either side of the estuary mouth and offer some of the best sheltered swimming in South Devon. North Sands is closer to town and more popular — a beautiful sandy beach with clear water and a relaxed café. South Sands is slightly more remote, reachable by the seasonal ferry from town, and has a lovely beach hotel. Both beaches are completely sheltered from swell and ideal for families, swimming, kayaking and SUP.
In summer the South Sands ferry from Whitestrand Quay is the best way to get there — avoids the car park queues and the ferry trip is lovely. Runs every 15 minutes in peak season.
🅿️ Parking
Multiple lay-bys
Free parking along the A379
🐕 Dogs
✅ All year
No restrictions — brilliant for dogs
📏 Length
3 miles
One of the longest beaches in SW
🌊 Swimming
Caution
Steep shingle, strong shore dump
🗺️ Behind
Slapton Ley
Largest natural freshwater lake in SW
🎣 Fishing
Excellent
Bass, flatfish, mackerel in season
Slapton Sands is a remarkable place — a 3-mile barrier beach of dark sand and shingle with the open Atlantic on one side and Slapton Ley nature reserve on the other. It's not the prettiest swimming beach (steep shingle, shore dump in any swell) but it's one of the best shore fishing venues in South Devon, outstanding for dog walking in all weathers, and the birdwatching on the Ley is exceptional. The road along the beach has been repeatedly damaged by storms — check the A379 is open before visiting.
The best bass fishing at Slapton is in the first two hours after dark on a flooding spring tide in summer — especially when there's a bit of swell stirring up the bottom. Bring a headtorch.
| Beach |
Car Park |
Cost (approx) |
Summer Tips |
| Bantham |
National Trust (above beach) |
£3–6 / day |
Arrives by 9am or you won't get in. Cash & card. |
| Bigbury-on-Sea |
Cliff-top car park |
£4–7 / day |
Larger than Bantham — usually space by mid-morning. |
| Hope Cove |
Village car park |
£3–5 / day |
Limited spaces. Walk in from Galmpton if full. |
| Thurlestone |
Village car park |
£2–4 / day |
Quieter than neighbouring beaches — usually space. |
| Salcombe North Sands |
Small beachside car park |
£4–6 / day |
Tiny — use the South Sands ferry instead in summer. |
| Salcombe South Sands |
Beach hotel car park |
£4–6 / day |
Take the ferry from Whitestrand — much easier. |
| Slapton Sands |
A379 roadside lay-bys |
Free |
Plenty of space. Check road is open first. |
Prices approximate and subject to change — always check signs on arrival. Most car parks are cash and card.
🌊 Live conditions before you go
Check surf, wind, tides and weather — updated every 20 minutes. Know what to expect before you leave home.
South Devon Beach Guide — South Hams' Best Beaches
South Devon's beaches are among the finest in England — and the South Hams coastline from Bantham to Salcombe concentrates some of the best into a single, stunning stretch. Unlike Cornwall, South Devon beaches retain a quieter, less commercialised character outside of peak July and August, making them particularly rewarding for those who know them well.
Bantham Beach is the crown jewel of South Hams — a wide arc of sand at the mouth of the River Avon, with the best surf in South Devon, clean National Trust-managed dunes and a pub (The Sloop) minutes from the shore. Bigbury-on-Sea faces west onto Bigbury Bay and looks across to Burgh Island at low tide — one of the most iconic views in South Devon. The island, accessible on foot at low water or by sea tractor, hosts the legendary Art Deco Burgh Island Hotel. Hope Cove and Thurlestone are sheltered family beaches tucked behind headlands, calmer in SW swell and surrounded by outstanding coastal walking on the South West Coast Path.
On the estuary side, Salcombe offers town beach and North Sands with calm, sheltered swimming in the estuary — popular with families and paddleboarders. The water at Salcombe is some of the clearest in Devon, with good snorkelling around the rocky outcrops at South Sands. Salcombe regularly records some of the highest water temperatures on the south coast in summer.