The best beaches

The best beaches

Dartmouth has some wonderful small coves at the mouth of the river Dart, and with a short drive there are some spectacular beaches to enjoy. All of these beaches are within 30 minutes at the most, most of them closer.

Some are dog friendly all year, others are famous for great surfing and some aresimply beautiful. Many host cafes and places to hire water sports

Beaches a short walk from the front door of your stay at Harbour Heights

• Three lovely coves - Castle Cove, Sugary Cove and Compass Cove - all great places to let the dog run around, to sit and relax to the sound of the sea, and to enjoy watching the boats come and go. Castle Cove is a popular place for a swim too. On the way to the Castle you will also pass Warfleet, where there is a lovely small inlet too.

Beaches we love a short drive away

• Slapton Sands - only a few minutes drive, this is a two mile stretch of shingle bar with a freshwater Ley behind it.

• Newfoundland Cove - you'll need a boat or kayak to get to this one (left hand picture) as it is only accessible by sea. Head left and find it a short distance round the coast before the Mew Stone Nearby beaches

• Bantham Beach - the best by far. Large expanse of sand, wonderful gourmet burgers at the Gastrobus, a superb surf school, plentiful supply of well priced wet suits, surfboards and SUPs to hire. Stunningly beautiful views across to Burgh Island. We hardly ever goto a different beach to be honest. RNLI support is outstanding here.

• Bigbury Beach - opposite to Bantham, it's also superb, just takes a little longer to drive there. The sea tractor is fun for when the tide comes in and you want to get to BurghIsland

• South Sands - small sandy beach in Salcombe

• South Milton sands - large National Trust beach with picturesque rock arch just out to sea. Great beach house cafe and restaurant, hire Kayaks and SUPs in summer, a shingle beach and awesome sunsets

• Blackpool Sands - just 5-10mins drive, or you can walk along the coastal path to get here and catch a bus back to Dartmouth. it's a beautiful shingle beach with great amenities on site. It has a blue flag status and is a very popular spot.

• Mansands - cross the Lower Ferry and proceed towards Brixham and soon you will find Mansands. It's a quite open beach about a mile walk from a small car park. Secluded open space

• Beesands - Situated between Torcross and Hallsands, Beesands is a popular tourist destination in the summer months, with the fabulous Cricket Inn.

• Soar Mill Cove - a small cove located along a very lovely stretch of the coastal path.

• Hope Cove - a wonderful village with a small sandy beach at its heart. Picturesque

The list above our some of our personal choices.  For even more - check the BytheDart website contains a more comprehensive guide to eating in Dartmouth and worth a look