Downderry Beach

Not my favourite type of beach. It’s rather rocky, the views are a bit “meh”, lots of motor boats about so smells not nice either. Not the greatest swimming spot. Don’t think I’ll visit again. Downderry is a cute little town though. Pretty easy access to the beach, parking just over the road, public toilets near the beach entrance, pubs and cafés also close to the beach.

Great beach for walking our dog. After parking on the too road we walked down the short lane, named Beach Lane, to access the beach. Lots of opportunities for water play and burrowing in the sand for our dog. The beach is a mix of sand and gravel and allows for a decent walk. Apparently you can walk through to Seaton on a low tide but not on the day we visited. Its easy to get caught out by returning tides so be careful if doing so. One of the things I enjoyed seeing was all of the different patterns and colours on the stones washed ashore. Definitely on our list of beaches to visit again.

So this was not the beach we intended on visiting! Enjoying the run of hot weather we decided a Tuesday afternoon would likely be quiet. How wrong we were! Tregantle and whitsand Bay were packed not ideal for the whole social distancing. Also as we drove along the coastal road, the path down to the beach, a mile or two below, looked a bit sketchy. Especially with young kids, bbq, bodyboards and more toys than smyths! Quick Google search and up comes Downderry. Off the bat the 4 stars are due to lack of facilities such as toilets, car park etc. A basic stoney beach nice and quiet mostly in use by locals. Waters were beautifully clear and fantastic to swim in. The weather was stunning sunshine all afternoon till we left around 8:30pm. Low tide allowed some limited exploration of rock pools most were heavily populated by seaweed. No complaints from my tribe in the 6 hours plus we were there, which is rare. Basic but versatile beach.