Kent Coast Holidays Beaches Ramsgate Marina Regatta Kent UK

Margate Blue Flag Beaches & Yacht Club Thanet Coast

Unlike the Whitstable and Herne Bay stretch of coast to the west, Thanet's glorious choice of beaches at Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate are sandy. No wonder then that this stretch of the Kent coast has pulled in the seaside crowds (especially from London) for decades. Today a fair few of these beaches have Blue Flag status and in glorious Margate Blue Flag beaches reign supreme across the beach board!

Margate Main Sands Blue Flag sandy beach stretches for around 200 metres, so plenty of space for all. Attractions line the beach including kids playgrounds, plus there's a popular tidal bathing pool and traditional seaside donkey rides. Facilities on hand are excellent including a choice of cafes, toilets (including disabled toilets and good disabled access onto the beach), lifeguards and first aid station and deckchair hire available aplenty. The 18 hole floodlit Stokes Adventure Golf is conveniently sited on Westbrook Promenade, just west of Margate Main Sands Beach.

Beautiful Westbrook Bay, another Margate Blue Flag beach west of Main Sands is likewise around 200 metres of sandy beach and prime territory for water skiing. Excellent facilities are here too, including cafes, toilets, lifeguards, first aid centre, beach huts and deck chair hire. Disabled toilets are also onsite, with good disabled access onto the flat level beach. The northern stretch of Margate's coast, pushing towards Cliftonville is home to Quality Coast Award winner and Blue Flag beach Walpole Bay. Walpole Bay is longer at 400 metres, and serves as a popular stretch for watersports. Jet ski hire, toilets, disabled access, adjacent parking and more are all onsite. Alongside these three main Margate Blue Flag beaches, there's more Blue Flag beach treats in store at nearby Minnis Bay off the Birchington coast and glorious West Bay and St Mildred's Bay at Westgate on Sea. Minnis Bay is a superb spot for families with a sailing club and windsurfing on--site, plus seal watching boat trips are easily hooked into here. A comprehensive Margate beach guide can be found on the official Visit Thanet webguide.

Pushing north of Margate Main Sands up Fort Hill you'll pass Margate's Yacht Club (see webguide right for information on sailing lessons). Winter Gardens faces onto Walpole Bay beach and a number of attractions are in this area including Margate's Bandstand, Bugsy's Ten Pin Bowling, the Walpole Bay Hotel Museum and Thanet Indoor Bowls Centre. The little Tom Thumb Theatre is also just east of the Bandstand.

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Whitstable Harbour Sailing & Tankerton Beach Canterbury Coast

Whitstable Yacht Club is where to head for sailing and windsurfing lessons particularly. This yacht club is one of the largest and oldest in England, and offers a particularly good introductory set of courses for beginner sailing and windsurfing. Windsurfing conditions at Whitstable couldn't be better. The coast is flat here and gets the wind. Windsurfing course prices are listed on their website. Take a three hour taster sailing lesson.

Just south of the harbour is Cushing's view. Famous Whitstable resident Peter Cushing loved this particular spot and fine sea views there are from it out towards Sheppey. The Whitstable Museum contains a detailed exhibit on Peter Cushing and his time in Whitstable, with a town trail leaflet of main sites pertaining to the star available.

Idyllic wooden huts line the blue flag shingle beach of Tankerton at Whitstable. The extensive grassy area at Tankerton gives this beach an edge, ideal for picnics and ball games, alongside the excellent choice of watersports in the area boosted by the channelled winds of the Swale. The shingle makes Tankerton perfect for family rock pooling and paddling.

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Herne Bay Seal Watching Boat Trips & Beaches Canterbury Coast

Scenic wildlife boat trips from Herne Bay have rather a long history. Tourist trips were popular from this seaside resort in the early 1900s. They're thriving again to popular demand, particularly for birdwatching and seal watching, as well as swimming with seals especially around the 5 mile long Barrow Sands, a favourite spot for the Common and Grey seals during season.

Two boat operators run regular boat trips from Herne Bay - Wildlife Sailing and Bay Blast. Checkout their webguides linked right for details and extensive photography.

Like Whitstable, Herne Bay's beaches are pebbly, however the beachfront promenade lined with beautiful gardens, the bandstand and Herne Bay's lively pier give it a different more family seaside resort feel compared to Whitstable.

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Broadstairs Award Winning Beaches Thanet Coast

The chalky white cliffs of Broadstairs are an iconic feature on many areas of Kent's coast and give the resort a real edge. Two of Broadstairs' beaches - Stone Bay and Botany Bay have blue flag status, whilst main beach Viking Bay has a Quality Award. All the beaches on this stretch of the Kent coast are endless sands, interrupted by chalk cliffs. Main beach Viking Bay has numerous facilities and attractions including a harbour pier, cliff top prom, chalets, toilets, first aid, adjacent parking and sunlounge and deckchair hire as well as amuseuments. Lifeguards operate during peaks summer, plus no dogs are allowed on Viking Bay in the summer season between May and September.

Push north to Blue Flag Stone Bay beach, perfect for a spot of rock pooling. Stone Bay is a little quieter, offering 200 metres of sands, with adjacent cafe and toilets including disabled toilets. Access is via Broadstairs Harbour. The 27 mile long Thanet Coast Viking Trail pushes on up past Stone Bay on the Eastern Esplanade towards the North Foreland Lighthouse (dating from 1499) and on towards more Broadstairs beach bays around Kingsgate including Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay. Look to the Visit Thanet and local Broadstairs Tourist guides for more information on beaches. At the southern end of main beach Viking Bay the Bandstand, Promenade and Victoria Gardens area with adjacent Lillyputt Mini Golf is a bustling area in peak season.

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Ramsgate Marina Watersports Beaches

Ramsgate's long Main Sands beach, stretching for 250 metres, is all golden sands framed by the Royal Harbour at one end and chalky white cliffs at the other. It's a lively affair down here in peak season, with numerous facilities and attractions on-site including donkey rides, lfieguards, toilets, beach cafe, kids amusements and promenade lining the beach. Main Sands is also a recent quality award winning beach.

To the south of Ramsgate, Pegwell Bay is a stunning natural haven for wildlife. A mecca for birdwatchers and nature lovers, the area is part of the Pegwell Nature Reserve (see Kent Wildlife Trust's weguide). Atop the Pegwell cliffs you'll find the reconstructed Viking Ship Hugin open all year round and free to enter. South of the Ferry Port find Westcliff bay and Westcliff Leisure Park and boating pool - a popular family attraction particularly during the summer season. An art gallery, displaying the work of local artists, is on-site at Westcliff. South of the Ferry Port find Westcliff bay and Westcliff Leisure Park and boating pool - a popular family attraction particularly during the summer season.

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Ramsgate Regatta & Waterskiing

Ramsgate Marina is seeing some exciting times at the moment, with its popularity as a base for international waterbased competitions ever increasing. Ramsgate's annual Regatta week in August is hosted by the Royal Temple Yacht Club based within the marina complex, and now the for the first time Ramsgate's Royal Marina is to host the European Water Ski Racing Championships from Saturday 5 until Saturday 12 July 2008.

Improved transport networks via the M2 into Ramsgate have certainly been a boast to the marina's growth. The sailing stretch of South Foreland around Ramsgate, plus easy access across the Channel to both French and Belgium Marinas makes Ramsgate a popular choice for yachts and sailing. On a particularly fine day you can actually see France from the harbour!

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