Cuckmere Haven Beach

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Cuckmere Haven Beach within a 15-minute-drive.  Saltmarsh Farmhouse is an inn that has a cafe with a rustic ambience – this cafe offers many delicious dishes including sandwiches, burgers, soup, bagels, pancakes, and salmon.  The View offers some excellent dishes for breakfast and lunch including English-style breakfast platters, sandwiches, roast lamb, baked salmon, turkey, and duck confit.  The Cuckmere Inn is another inn that has a restaurant – this restaurant offers many excellent locally-inspired dishes including soups, calamari, seafood, steak, lamb, pizzas, and sandwiches.  The Grumpy Chef offers a variety of delicious dishes including seafood, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, roast chicken, and sausages.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Lexden Fish and Chips offers excellent fish-and-chips, along with a variety of delicious dishes including burgers, sausages, chicken nuggets, savory pies, and onion rings.

If you are looking for a hotel near Cuckmere Haven Beach, there are many great nearby options.  The 4-Star The Alfriston, South Downs offers many amenities including a bar, a restaurant, a pool, a spa, and a croquet lawn.  Another great hotel is the Wingrove House that is set in a 19th century building and it offers many amenities including a lounge, a garden, a terrace, and a restaurant.  Another great hotel is The Saltmarsh Farmhouse – this inn dates back to the 16th century and it offers many amenities including a garden, a restaurant, and complimentary breakfast.  A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star White Lion Hotel that offers many amenities including a restaurant, a bar, gardens, and complimentary breakfast.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, the 3-Star The Wellington Pub & Bed & Breakfast that offers a bar – it is also located conveniently close to some of the major landmarks around Seaford.

Although Cuckmere Beach does not offer lifeguards or any other amenities, the parking lots near the beach have restrooms and a few nearby hiking trails.

Dogs are allowed at Cuckmere Haven Beach.

Cuckmere Haven Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, fishing, beachcombing, swimming, paddleboarding, boating, jet-skiing, surf-skiing, kayaking, canoeing, and wildlife watching.

Swimming at Cuckmere Haven Beach is ideal for less-experienced swimmers because the water here is usually known to have manageable waves.

If you are planning to swim, kayak, or canoe here, we recommend being careful because the cold water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents, dangerous waves, and a steep depth – the area around the mouth of the Cuckmere River is particularly dangerous because of the dangerous fast-flowing river currents, especially during winters.

The western part of the beach is ideal for visitors looking for a quieter beach experience because it sees fewer visitors as compared to other nearby beaches.

If you like taking pictures with beautiful views, the beach at Cuckmere Haven offers amazing Instagram-worthy views of the English South Coast, the nearby Seven Sisters Cliffs, a headland named Beachy Head, and the English Channel – one of the popular photography sites here is a series of four coastguard cottages.  These cottages were built in the mid 19th century by an organization named “His Majesty’s Coastguard.”

If you like fishing, you can catch many kinds of fish at Cuckmere Haven Beach – the mouth of the Cuckmere River is especially a great fishing site.

Cuckmere Haven Beach does not have wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities.

Getting to Cuckmere Haven Beach can be difficult because of the long access trail to the beach – from the town of Seaford, you need to drive two miles east along a road named the A259.  This road will lead you to the paid parking lot for a park named Seven Sisters Country Park – this lot is located to the east of Exceat Bridge and it charges £3.5 for parking up to two hours.  If you are parking here for four hours, you need to pay around £5.

After parking here, you need to walk on a long access trail to reach Cuckmere Haven Beach – walking from the parking lot to the beach takes anywhere between 20-30 minutes.

As another parking option, you can also park at another free car parking lot called South Hill Barn Car Park, which is located in the Seaford Head Nature Reserve – this parking lot is easily accessible from the town of Seaford.  Once you park here, you can easily walk to the beach through a hiking trail.

As an alternate travel option, you can also visit this beach through bus – from the town of Seaford, you can take the buses numbered 12 and 12A that will drop you off to the Seven Sisters Country Park’s visitor center.  Once you reach this center, you can easily walk to Cuckmere Haven Beach’s access trail and then reach the beach.  If you are planning to travel by bus, you can visit www.buses.co.uk for more information on the local bus fare and bus timings.

We recommend checking Cuckmere Haven tide times online before visiting this beach because at high tide the mouth of the Cuckmere River has very dangerous currents – this makes beach exploration dangerous here.

We also recommend checking the local weather reports before visiting this beach because it can sometimes get quickly foggy.

This beach and the area around it have been featured in many movies and TV shows including the 2007 film Atonement, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and the British television series Luther.  In addition, the beach also has remnants of anti tank traps and defence fortifications – these fortifications date back to World War II.  In addition, this beach was also used for smugglers to unload and transport contraband during the 17th and the 18th centuries.

There are many attractions and things to do near Cuckmere Haven Beach. You can check the Cuckmere Haven Map and see the Seven Sisters Country Park – this 280-hectare country park offers many things to explore including chalk grassland, chalk cliffs, and a river valley.  This park offers many fun activities including sunbathing, hiking, biking, wildlife watching, kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding.  The Seaford Museum of Local History is set within an early 19th century tower and it has a variety of interesting exhibits on local history – it also has a gift shop and it also hosts interesting community events.  Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters is a coastal area that is set around a series of cliffs called the Seven Sisters – this reserve offers many fun activities including hiking, wildlife watching, tidepooling, beachcombing, and picnicking.  It also offers many fun things to explore including a gift shop, a garden, a cafe, a beach named Birling Gap Beach, and a bookstore.  Seaford Head Nature Reserve is a 150-hectare nature reserve that is set around a headland named Seaford Head and it offers amazing views of the Cuckmere Valley, the Seven Sisters cliffs, and the English Channel.  This reserve has many habitats including scrub, chalk grasslands, and salt marshes – in addition, it also offers a fun hiking and wildlife watching experience.  Seaford Head Golf Course is an 18-hole golf course that was built in 1887 and it offers a fun golfing experience – in addition, it also offers amazing views of the English Channel and it also has a restaurant.  If you are looking for another attraction near the beach, Friston Forest is a forest that consists mainly of woodlands and you can explore it through hiking and biking trails – it also has barbecue areas, a kids’ play area, and picnic areas and it also offers a unique insight into the local biodiversity.