West Bay Sea Swimming
West Bay Beaches
West Bay Beaches
How lucky are we- with a choice of three brilliant beaches to swim at!
West Beach is divided in two by a rock groyne, the smaller of which we tend to refer to as Middle Beach, and the larger, more westerly one as 'Dog Beach'. Each beach is a great place to swim when the sea conditions are very good, but also, each beach has its own vagaries and issues when the sea is in a mood.
'Dog beach' is the least sheltered of the three beaches, so if the sea is choppy or rough, it can be challenging.
West Beach/'Dog beach' is a stretch of sand and shingle, backed by the walls of the esplanade. It can be a beautiful beach for a late afternoon or evening swim as you have an unobstructed view of the setting sun.
There are rocks under the water, (not sharp or jagged ones) which can obstruct a swim at low tide (don't dive in!).
And be aware, when the tide is fully in, there can be no beach left.
West Beach/'Middle Beach' is a more pebbled beach, and usually (but not always) offers a gently sloping entrance to the sea. On the face of it, middle beach is the most sheltered of the beaches, as it is flanked on one side by the rocks beside the harbour wall, and the other by a curved rocky groin. When the sea is calm it is a very family friendly beach.
At other times though, if the waves are big and coming in from the south, then the entrance to the beach seems to act as a constriction, which can then amplify the waves, making them larger and somewhat messy.
'Middle beach' has a wonderful beach wheelchair scheme with matting and wheelchaire hire .
East Beach is a long lovely beach, more shingle than fine sand, that stretches from the east side of the harbour, towards the imposing golden cliffs- so swimming here offers an astonishing and ever-changing view of this famous landmark. The profile and topography of the beach change regularly, especially after a storm has been and gone, so at times the sea is shallow and easy to wade into, but at other times there is a drop or a shelf. When there is a drop, this can cause dumping waves which break on the shoreline, sometimes forcefully enough to knock you over.
East Beach catches the morning light and is where most of the regular swimmers choose to swim, usually swimming from the pier end of the beach- in ‘the corner’ - so this site's safety info will concentrate more heavily on East Beach.
Do not swim across the Harbour Mouth, or in the Harbour or pontoon area as this is a busy commercial harbour.
