Bantham Beach
Bantham Beach in the South Hams district of Devon is widely regarded as one of the finest beaches in the southwest of England, a long arc of golden sand at the mouth of the River Avon that combines excellent surf with beautiful scenery and a relatively undeveloped character that sets it apart from the more commercialised beaches of the Cornish coast nearby. The beach faces southwest across the open sea and receives Atlantic swell that produces reliable surf conditions, making it popular with surfers as well as families and swimmers who benefit from the beach's good natural shelter and lifeguard supervision during the summer season.
The setting of Bantham is distinguished by the presence of the River Avon estuary at the northern end of the beach, where the river meets the sea in a complex of sandbanks, channels and tidal pools that make it one of the most naturally interesting beach environments in Devon. The ferry crossing to Bigbury-on-Sea on the opposite bank of the estuary is a seasonal service that adds a pleasantly adventurous element to access between the two sides of the river mouth, and the tidal island of Burgh Island is visible just offshore from the Bigbury side, its art deco hotel making it one of the most distinctive landmarks on this stretch of coast.
The village of Bantham itself is small and low-key, with a car park, a surf shop and a pub that maintains the unpretentious character appropriate to a working beach community rather than a heavily developed resort. The walk along the South West Coast Path south from Bantham to Bolt Tail and beyond provides some of the finest coastal scenery in the South Hams, with the combination of headland, cove and open sea that characterises this outstanding stretch of the Devon coast.
The South Hams is one of Devon's most beautiful and least spoiled areas, combining excellent beaches, the wooded estuary of the Salcombe inlet, the market towns of Kingsbridge and Totnes and the rolling pastoral countryside of the hinterland into one of the most varied and rewarding landscapes in the southwest.