Margate Main Sands
About
Main Sands is a proper wide sandy beach sitting directly in front of the town, between the harbour and Marine Terrace, about ten minutes' walk from the railway station. That combination, a big sandy beach you can reach from London by train and then walk to, is the whole reason Margate became a resort in the first place and it is still the reason most day-trippers come. The tide goes a long way out here over sand rather than mud or shingle, which makes low tide the better time for anything involving children. It is backed by the Harbour Arm at one end and Dreamland at the other, so everything else is a two-minute walk. Lifeguard cover is seasonal rather than year-round, and the beach is busy in a genuinely crowded way on a hot summer Saturday. The sea faces north, so this is one of the few English beaches where you watch the sun set over the water.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Sand rather than shingle, and a long way out at low tide
- ✓Ten minutes' walk from Margate station
- ✓North-facing, so the sun sets over the sea
- ✓Harbour Arm at one end, Dreamland at the other
- ✓Seasonal lifeguard cover
Tips
- →Low tide is better for families: the sand runs a long way out and the shallow water warms up.
- →Sea temperature peaks in early September, not July. Autumn is the sensible swimming season.
- →Lifeguard cover is seasonal. Outside the season nobody is watching the water.
- →For the sunset, the harbour wall and the Harbour Arm give you a better line than the sand does.
Best Season
Accessibility
The seafront promenade above the beach is flat and step-free the full length from the station to the harbour. Getting onto the sand itself is a different matter and was not verified during this build.
More Attraction Activities
Turner Contemporary
Free contemporary art gallery on the seafront, on the site of Turner's Margate lodgings. Open Tuesday to Sunday, closed Mondays.
Dreamland
Free to enter, pay per ride. Vintage rides, a roller disco and a summer outdoor gig season. The Scenic Railway still stands but is retired and cannot be ridden. Opening pattern changes constantly.
The Shell Grotto
4.6 million shells in a tunnel under a Cliftonville side street. Discovered in 1835 and never explained. Grade I listed.