Short answer: The main car park pays by app and the phone signal is poor, which catches people out constantly — bring cash, or use the lower car park with its cash ticket machine. Check the tide before you arrive, because it decides whether you walk to Burgh Island or pay for the sea tractor.
Bigbury's car park pays by app and the phone signal down there is poor. Visitors report this repeatedly — you arrive, the app will not load, and there is no obvious alternative. Bring cash and the problem disappears.
There is also a lower car park with a cash ticket machine, which is the simpler option if you have change.
This matters more here than the parking itself. At low tide you walk across the sandbar to Burgh Island for nothing. When the tide covers it, the sea tractor carries you over for about £2, with under-tens free.
The tide comes in from both sides and the two flows meet, which cuts the causeway faster than people expect. Know when the last crossing is if you are relying on the tractor to get back.
Worth the trip regardless of the island — wide flat sand with a shallow incline, RNLI lifeguards, an accessible ramp down, toilets and a café. Two sections allow dogs. It faces west, which gives it the best sunsets in the South Hams.
Less than people assume, and that is fine. The art deco hotel is for guests only. You can walk right around the island and climb to the ruined chapel at the summit — about an hour, with the best views on this stretch of coast. The Pilchard Inn, a 14th-century pub, is the other reason to cross.
Challaborough is the next bay north with the WaterFront Bar & Restaurant right on the beach, next to the holiday park. Venus Cafe in Bigbury's lower car park has sea views and plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.
Outdoor drinks at the Pilchard come in branded plastic with a £2 deposit. Hope Cove is fifteen minutes down the coast, and Kingsbridge twenty minutes inland with far easier parking.
For the detail on charges and why the app so often fails, see what parking at Bigbury actually costs.
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