Exmoor, Somerset & Devon Beaches near Middle Stone Farm
The beaches nearest to Middle Stone Farm are Blue Anchor Bay and Dunster Beach, both a combination of stones and sand and a 25 minute drive away. It's free to park at Blue Anchor and there's a simple all-day-breakfast, fish & chips sort of place called The Driftwood. Dunster and Minehead beaches have big stretches of sand at low tide.
For head to Kilve Beach, an area of Special Scientific Interest, it's easy to find huge fossils here. The cliffs are layered with compressed strata embedded with fossils and there are loose fossils on the beach too. Photo below. Famous Lyme Regis and Charnmouth are about an hour away, you can do fossil tours, hammer stones and find fossils in them. These beaches are super busy though during the season, we prefer Kilve, if you're lucky you'll have the beach to yourself. Watchet beach is best at low tide - there are fossils at Helwell and Warren Bays.
On the west side of Exmoor Saunton, Woolacombe and Putsborough are well worth the journey if you want to surf or boogie board, there are good cafes and surf lessons here too. We recommend driving right through the middle of Exmoor National Park to get there as the route is beautiful, think sheep or cows in the middle of the road - rather than taking the main roads which is only 5-10 minutes quicker. If you have a National Trust card you can park for free at Baggy Point and walk around the headland - stunning but there are drops so avoid if you have small children or don't like heights!
Beer, Branscombe, Lyme Regis and Budleigh Salterton in South Devon are also worth visiting and are about an hour from here (much busier than our beaches so go early to ensure a parking place). Drop into the Donkey Sanctuary, Otter Valley Ice Cream or amazing Darts Farm on your way past. Topsham is also pretty with lots of nice independent shops and antiques.
For wild swimming in rivers, see our Exmoor and Walks pages above.
For head to Kilve Beach, an area of Special Scientific Interest, it's easy to find huge fossils here. The cliffs are layered with compressed strata embedded with fossils and there are loose fossils on the beach too. Photo below. Famous Lyme Regis and Charnmouth are about an hour away, you can do fossil tours, hammer stones and find fossils in them. These beaches are super busy though during the season, we prefer Kilve, if you're lucky you'll have the beach to yourself. Watchet beach is best at low tide - there are fossils at Helwell and Warren Bays.
On the west side of Exmoor Saunton, Woolacombe and Putsborough are well worth the journey if you want to surf or boogie board, there are good cafes and surf lessons here too. We recommend driving right through the middle of Exmoor National Park to get there as the route is beautiful, think sheep or cows in the middle of the road - rather than taking the main roads which is only 5-10 minutes quicker. If you have a National Trust card you can park for free at Baggy Point and walk around the headland - stunning but there are drops so avoid if you have small children or don't like heights!
Beer, Branscombe, Lyme Regis and Budleigh Salterton in South Devon are also worth visiting and are about an hour from here (much busier than our beaches so go early to ensure a parking place). Drop into the Donkey Sanctuary, Otter Valley Ice Cream or amazing Darts Farm on your way past. Topsham is also pretty with lots of nice independent shops and antiques.
For wild swimming in rivers, see our Exmoor and Walks pages above.
