It's so nice to be beside the seaside. Nicer when half the country has flown abroad. And downright heavenly when the beach you're on is flying a Blue Flag. This year, a record 57 British resort beaches are boasting the eco-label of beach excellence, a huge improvement on our meagre 17 winners back in 1992.
The EC Blue Flag is the definitive guide to clean beaches in Europe. Wherever you see the flag flying, you can rest assured that the beach has passed the most stringent tests on management and safety, with its results on rigorous water quality tests clearly displayed for all swimmers, surfers and paddlers to read. Take five:
Tenby South Beach, South Wales
If you go to Tenby by train or car, go out and come back in again by foot, just for the glorious view of the town reclining below the steeple of St Mary's, its harbour embraced by Georgian colour-washed terraces and a tumble of cliffs.
On one side of Tenby's limestone shelf lies North Beach. Blue-flagged South Beach, on the other flank, sweeps away into the haze, its hemline marked by the Burrows, a richly-vegetated parade of dunes. When you feel hungry, dive into the kasbah of narrow streets and Georgian frontages, and you'll arrive at Fecci's for a choice of hake, whiting, cod, haddock, scampi, mussels, sole, plaice or salmon and chips. Around the corner you'll find their ice-cream parlour, where knickerbocker glories come in glasses the size of traffic cones.
The on-the-doorstep National Park Pembrokeshire coastline is all yours, barring the odd convention of seagulls.
For more information, including details of the half dozen hotels on the Esplanade overlooking South Beach, contact the tourist office on 01834 842402.
Woolacombe, north Devon
The abundance of "golden", "sandy" and "cove" hotel signs are some indication as to the character of this favourite stretch of north Devon coast. Woolacombe, shy little sister to bolder Ilfracombe, has been flying a Blue Flag on its beach since 1991. The beach is a proper sandcastle affair, the colour of clotted cream and more than big enough to cater for the regular influx of both families and surfers. A lucky few will be commuting down to the waves from the parade of gaily-painted wooden beach huts (£10 a day, £50 a week from Parkin Estates (01271 870234); others from the Beachcomber Café, which serves meals from breakfast through to afternoon tea, along with more mobile refreshment outlets.
The northern end is the humming end, where Woolacombe's main Esplanade is lined with shops, cafés and copious B&Bs, guesthouses and self-catering apartments. Here are the rockpools, too, where for a nominal fee visitors can join the Devon Wildlife Trust's rockpool rambles (dates are posted up in the tourist office on the beachfront, 01271 870553). Down at the southern tip is Baggy Point, which only revs up when local gannets, shags, cormorants and shearwaters arrive for their autumn conventions.
St Andrews West Sands, Fife, Scotland
Tee off on the famous St Andrews Links Golf Courses and you'll be overlooking West Sands, a delightful, two-mile stretch of sand backed by dunes, pounded by the North Sea and within easy striking distance of the town centre. You may recognise it from the running scenes in the film Chariots of Fire - at low tide, the beach is flat and enormous. As you walk up towards the Tay Estuary, and towards the walking/ cycling trails of the Forest of Tentsmuir, you'll have the sands to yourself. The only crowds that gather here are for summer Friday sandcastle competitions.
St Andrews resort is a heady mix of golfers, medieval ruins, tourist schmaltz and undergraduate buzz. The ruins of the Cathedral and Castle have been preserved as far as possible, and there's plenty to do between the Botanic Gardens, Craigtown Country Park, the Byre Theatre and the huge Sea Life Centre, with more on the second Monday and Tuesday in August when the Lammas Fair packs the centre with stalls and amusements.
The Fife Tourist Office (01334 472021) can proudly provide details on all three of Scotland's Blue Flag beach winners, including accommodation. And usefully, the university (01334 462000) rents out about 200 rooms in various locations on a B&B basis over the summer.
Benone Strand, Co Londonderry
Any beach that attracts regular horse-riders must have something going for it. The award-winning seven-mile stretch of fine white sand at Benone runs from Magilligan Point to Downhill. Sheltered by dramatic 750ft cliffs, it's also ideal for picnicking families.
The easiest place to stay, a hop, skip and jump from the sands, is the Radisson Roe Park Hotel and Golf Resort (028 777 22222), currently offering two-nights for £99pp including B&B and one evening meal.
The market town of Limavady is just down the road, where the Londonderry Air (aka Danny Boy) is said to have originated in 1851 when local girl Jane Moss jotted down the melody after hearing a blind fiddler play it in the street.
The waterways of the river Roe provide plenty of pretty riverside walks as well as good salmon and trout fishing in nearby Roe Valley Country Park.
Return flights from London Stansted to Derry with Ryanair (0870 1569569) start at £75pp. If you wish to join the horse-riders or book alternative accommodation, details are available from the tourist office on 0870 1555250.
Cromer, north Norfolk
North Norfolk is a long way from anywhere and not on the way to anywhere else. But its insularity lies at the root of what makes it special. Cromer, sitting right on the bulge that juts into The Wash, was a highly fashionable Victorian resort that came and went with the coming and going of the railways. Today it's a favourite with loyal Norfolk devotees, its shingle-cum-sandy Blue Flag beach backed by a long promenade. There's crabbing and cafés for children, various gardens for grown-ups like North Lodge Park and Sunken Gardens up on the cliffs, and a breezy two-mile walk along to Cromer Lighthouse.
No visitor to the beach can miss the pier. One hundred years old, and recently voted Pier of the Year 2000, Cromer Pier boasts the lifeboat boathouse and, more importantly, the famous Pavilion Theatre.
After a supper at Mary Jane's - an excellent plate of haddock, chips and mushy peas - take your seat at Pavilion's Seaside Special, the last surviving end-of-the-pier variety show, keeping alive a tradition that has long given way to amusement arcades (box office: 01263 512495). The Hotel de Paris (01263 513141), a listed, art-nouveau-meets-Dralon hotel on the clifftops, is the closest the coast gets to having a proper Grand. For a full accommodation list, contact the tourist office on 01263 512497.
A complete list of UK BlueFlag beaches and resorts is available from the Tidy Britain Goup, 5 Chalk Hill House, 19 Rosary Road, Norwich NR11SZ, tel: 01603 766076 (9am - 5pm). A brochure listing beaches that have been awarded the Seaside Award, which are safe to bathe in, is also available.
Further details
For more information, including details of the half dozen hotels on the Esplanade overlooking South Beach, contact the tourist office on 01834 842402.
The Fife Tourist Office (01334 472021) can proudly provide details on all three of Scotland's Blue Flag beach winners, including accommodation. And usefully, the university (01334 462000) rents out about 200 rooms in various locations on a B&B basis over the summer.
Return flights from London Stansted to Derry with Ryanair (0870 1569569) start at £75pp. If you wish to join the horse-riders or book alternative accommodation, details are available from the tourist office on 0870 1555250.
A complete list of UK BlueFlag beaches and resorts is available from the Tidy Britain Goup, 5 Chalk Hill House, 19 Rosary Road, Norwich NR11SZ, tel: 01603 766076 (9am - 5pm). A brochure listing beaches that have been awarded the Seaside Award, which are safe to bathe in, is also available.
