Best beaches in Kent
Kent's coastline serves up an extraordinary variety of coastal experiences, from the dramatic chalk stacks of Botany Bay to the working oyster beds of Whitstable. Whether you're seeking perfect surfing waves, secluded coves, traditional seaside charm, or wild nature reserves, the Garden of England's shore delivers unforgettable memories along every mile of its diverse coast.
Broadstairs' horseshoe-shaped main beach, watched over by Bleak House, the clifftop home where Charles Dickens once lived and wrote.
Margate's main beach opens straight onto Dreamland, the vintage amusement park with its own beachfront entrance.
Chalk sea stacks and fossils emerge at low tide beneath the clifftop hotel that watches over Botany Bay.
One of the few UK beaches with a pub right on the sand, on top of Whitstable's long oyster heritage.
Thanet's main surfing beach, with an on-site surf school offering board and wetsuit hire plus SUP lessons.
Ramsgate's main beach sits beside England's only Royal Harbour, a title held by nowhere else on this coast.
Birchington-on-Sea's established sailing and windsurfing centre, with clubs launching from the beach throughout the year.
Tankerton's beach leads out to "The Street," a natural shingle spit that stretches 750 metres to sea at low tide.
Broadstairs' quieter alternative to Viking Bay, with better rockpooling and more room to spread out along the sand.
A working shingle beach with its own fishing-boat fleet still hauled up on the shore, right beside Deal Pier.
One of the best low-tide walking routes on this stretch, tracing the sand between Broadstairs and Ramsgate.
Home to the UK's largest tidal pool, built in 1937 and still filling with seawater on every high tide.
A designated water-ski area on the promenade, with Strokes adventure golf running right alongside the sand.
Home to the regional waterskiing club, with jet skiing, windsurfing and sea kayaking all launching from this stretch of sand.
A fully tidal bay with compact sand made for sandcastle-building, and some of the best rockpools in the area.
Home to the world's first freestanding purpose-built clock tower, raised in 1837, plus the surviving stub of a once record-breaking pier.
A replica Viking longship, sailed from Denmark in 1949, sits on the clifftop above this nature reserve built over a former hoverport.
Walmer Castle, the Tudor fort turned stately home for the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, stands directly behind the beach.
A shingle beach beneath the White Cliffs at one of the Channel's narrowest points — France is visible here on clear days.
Part of Kent's largest nature reserve, with Royal St George's, an Open Championship golf course, right next door.
The historic start and finish point for more than 30 recorded Channel swims, at the narrowest point of the crossing.