Eastbourne’s Beaches

One of the things we love most about Eastbourne are our lovely beaches! We are always happy to supply picnic-ers with delicious treats to go and enjoy on the sea front (just no littering, alright?)

Here’s a quick guide to our favourite spots:

Grand Parade

This is Eastbourne’s main resort beach and it’s right in front of the promenade – you can’t really miss it! It’s a classic Victorian seaside, with lovely hotels and lots of other vintage sights like the bandstand and the beautiful Floral Carpet Gardens.

You can’t miss the pier either – despite suffering from WW2 bombs, storms and the fire in 2014 it’s now been fully repaired and is open again for ice cream fuelled strolls.

Royal Parade Beach

Royal Parade beach is away from the main stretch and while it’s popular with residents and visitors it’s a bit quieter than the main Pier beach.

It’s another beach with a lovely promenade for walkers, cyclists and joggers and it’s got lots of parking too. This is the water sport hang out, you’ll probably see kite surfers and wind surfers, and the local sailing club is right on the beach.

Although Royal Parade is very family-friendly beach it doesn’t have any lifeguards, unlike the main pier beaches.

Holywell Beach

This is the beach at the western end of the promenade and it’s a lovely quiet and quaint shingle beach, with a laid back vibe we love.Holywell backs on to the Italian Gardens and you’ll see lots of little white and blue beach huts which have been around for nearly 100 years – Queen Elizabeth’s grandparents George V and Queen Mary used one during their visit to Eastbourne!

The far end of the beach leads to the famous white chalk cliffs and Beachy Head.

Birling Gap

If you want to get a bit closer to nature then Birling Gap, which sits between us and Brighton, is the longest bit of undeveloped coastline in the south.

You need to climb down a staircase to get to this beach from the carpark on top of the cliffs.

Like all our beaches, it’s pebbly, but you can find the odd patch of sand and when the tide goes out there are some great rock pools to explore.

The cliffs are white because they are eroding fast – great for fossil hunting, but be very wary of going too close to the bottom of the cliffs – there are cottages toppling off the top! Another thing to watch out for on the beach (or not!) are naturists, who usually travel a fair walk to the right of the steps. You have been warned!