Coast and beaches
From wild cliffs and open seas to tranquil beaches and hidden coves, there are endless beautiful places along the coastline we look after to explore.
Best beaches for rock pools
Take a look into a rock pool to find sea animals like starfish, crabs and anemones. Plenty of the beaches we care for have tidal pools worth investigating. Discover the best places to go rock-pooling.
- Embleton and Newton Links, Northumberland
- You have a good chance of discovering sea-loving critters in the rock pools at Embleton and Newton Links. Low Newton has a natural rock harbour and a golden beach sheltered from the tides by an offshore reef. It’s a good place to look for marine wildlife and feeding shorebirds. Try the Newton Pool coastal walk, a mile-long circular walk that passes wildlife hides and has views over to Dunstanburgh Castle.Visit Embleton and Newton Links
- Porthdinllaen, Gwynedd
- Porthdinllaen is a peaceful little fishing village perched on a spit of land that stretches into the Irish Sea. The clear, sheltered waters and seagrass beds attract a wealth of wildlife that you can search for in the rock pools, including anemones, crabs, jellyfish and an array of fish.Visit Porthdinllaen
- Sheringham Park, Norfolk
- Sheringham seafront is only a three mile walk from the main visitor centre and at low tide you’ll find plenty of tidal pools to explore. There’s a whole range of marine life to find, so you can spend your time digging for worms, netting some shrimps and trying to catch crabs.Visit Sheringham Park
- St Helens Duver, Isle of Wight
- Situated at one end of the beach at St Helens Duver, Node's Point is one of the best places on the island for rock-pooling. The area is covered with limestone outcrops, whose crevices provide shelter for whelks, limpets, barnacles and periwinkles. Sea anemones live in the pools along with small fish such as blennies and gobies, plus the occasional seahorse.Visit St Helens Duver
- Wembury, Devon
- Wembury Bay has some of the best rock pools in the country, with masses of sea creatures and plantlife to discover. Located close to the beach, Wembury Marine Centre is the ideal place to learn about the area through interactive displays, and they even run Rock Pool Rambles for children during the school holidays. The beach is also a great starting point for walks to the nearby woodlands and the Yealm Estuary, or around the headland at Wembury Point.Visit Wembury
- Yorkshire Coast, Yorkshire
- Robin Hood’s Bay is a great choice for spending a sunny day by the seaside. You can access a number of rock pools that are home to a wide variety of sea creatures like crabs, periwinkles and starfish. The Old Coastguard Station provides free-to-borrow Tracker Packs, which are full of useful information and guides on fossil hunting, bird watching and rock-pooling.Visit the Yorkshire Coast
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