Branscombe Beach

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Branscombe Beach.  Masons Arms Branscombe is an inn with a pub that offers many amenities including burgers, fish-and-chips, pasta, and salads.  Steamers Restaurant offers a variety of delicious gourmet dishes including lamb rump, pan fried scallops, roast pork belly, and an assorted seafood board.  The Smugglers Kitchen offers a cozy ambience and it offers a variety of amazing dishes including potato curry, steak, pasta, pork loin, and locally-inspired seafood dishes.  Fountain Head Inn is a pub that offers a variety of excellent bar eats including fish-and-chips, fries, seafood, eggs, burgers, and roast meat – it also has an outdoor dining area and it also serves excellent local alcoholic beverages.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Ducky's is a waterfront cafe that offers many delicious snacks including burgers, salads, sandwiches, toasts, and seafood – it also offers refreshing English-style tea and desserts.

If you are looking for a hotel near Branscombe Beach, there are many great nearby options.  If you are looking for an upscale hotel, the 4-Star Dukes Inn is a 22-minute-drive away and offers many amenities including a bar, a patio, outdoor sitting areas, and a restaurant.  The Mason Arms Branscombe is set in a 14th century manor and offers many amenities including a pub, a beer garden, a terrace, common sitting areas, and gardens – this hotel was also listed as one of “the 100 best places to stay in the United Kingdom” by The Times.  The Dolphin Hotel is another great hotel that offers a bar and outdoor sitting areas – it is also located conveniently close to major landmarks around the village of Beer.  A more affordable hotel is the Bay View Guest House that has a lounge and it also offers amazing sea views.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, Anchor Inn has a pub and it is also located conveniently close to some of the major attractions around the village of Beer.  Another great accommodation option is staying at a local thatched-roof cottage – there are many thatched cottages in Branscombe where you can stay including the Marsdens Devon Cottages, the Forge Cottage, and the Great Seaside Bed and Breakfast Branscombe.

Although Branscombe Beach does not offer lifeguards, the beach offers a couple of other amenities including picnic areas and restrooms.

Dogs on Branscombe Beach are usually allowed throughout the year.  However, please note that dogs are not allowed in front of the nearby Sea Shanty Beach Cafe.

Branscombe Beach Devon offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, swimming, fishing, tidepooling, boating, snorkelling, scuba diving, jet-skiing, surf-skiing, water-skiing, kayaking, canoeing, and wildlife watching.

The water here is ideal for slightly less-experienced swimmers because it is known to have manageable waves – the water usually has mellower waves at high tide.

If you are planning to swim, snorkel, or paddleboard here, we recommend being careful because the water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents, dangerous waves, and a steep depth.  In addition, the shoreline around this beach is also slightly pebbly, which can cause minor injuries and discomfort.

If you like taking pictures with beautiful views, Branscombe Beach offers amazing Instagram-worthy views of the East Devon shoreline, nearby cliffs, and Lyme Bay.  This beach is ideal for visitors looking for a quieter beach experience because it sees fewer visitors as compared to other Southwestern England beaches.  If you like hiking, a regional hiking trail named the South West Coast Path also passes near the beach – this path is around 630 miles long and it provides a strenuous and fun hiking experience around Southwest England.

Although Branscombe Beach does not offer wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities, there are two wheelchair-friendly picnic tables nearby.

Getting to Branscombe Beach is easy – this beach is easily accessible from Branscombe’s village center and it is also accessible from a nearby local highway named A3052.  There is a paid Branscombe Beach car park nearby that charges £1 per hour – please note that you need to park here for a minimum of two hours.

There is a large anchor kept on display near the beach – this anchor belongs to a 62,000 tonne container ship named MSC Napoli, which was beached nearby in 2007.  This beach was originally used by smugglers for transporting contraband – in addition, some of the limestone and sandstone cliffs around this beach are more than a 100 million years old and have a rich geological history.

There are many attractions and things to do near Branscombe Beach.  The Beer Quarry Caves are a series of caves that are locally famous for being used as limestone quarries until the 20th century – these quarries date back to the Roman era and they offer a unique insight into local history.  These caves are also seasonal home to horseshoe bats and you can explore the caves through guided tours. Pecorama – also called the Pecorama Pleasure Gardens – is an attraction that is known for having splendid gardens and it also has a miniature train that offers exciting rides – this attraction also has many other things to explore including a cafe, play areas, a pond, and zip lines.  Beer Beach is a beach that offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, jet-skiing, snorkelling, kayaking, and canoeing.  It also has an interpretive center that offers interesting exhibitions on the local natural history and cultural history.  St. Winifred’s Church is a church that dates back to around the 10th century and it has Norman and Late Medieval-inspired architecture – this beautiful church offers a unique insight into local history and it is dedicated to the Welsh saint Winifred.  If you are looking for another attraction near the beach, Seaton Tramway is a three-mile-long electric tramway that is a 15-minute-drive away and offers fun tram rides – this tramway also offers a chance to see and explore the vibrant biodiversity around the Axe Estuary, and some of the Tramway’s stations also have cafes and gift shops.  In addition, visitors can also enjoy interesting tram-driving lessons here.