Quiet Beaches Near Sidmouth Away From the Crowds

Short answer: Weston Beach, east of town, is half a mile of beach reached by a steep twenty to thirty minute walk down — and it is near empty when everywhere else is packed. Jacob's Ladder is the quieter of the two town beaches. Branscombe and Beer are the drive.

Sidmouth is quiet by Devon standards anyway

This is a genteel Regency town with no arcades and very little to draw a day-trip crowd, so it is calmer than Torquay or Woolacombe on any given day. But the main beach still fills in July and August, and much of it is under water at high tide, which compresses everyone into a narrow strip.

Jacob's Ladder

The western beach below Connaught Gardens, reached by a steep slope or the listed wooden steps. It is the quieter of the two town beaches, has the better rock pools, a gentler shelf into the water and the Clock Tower café up in the gardens above.

The steps and the slope are enough to deter a proportion of people, which is most of why it is calmer.

Weston Beach

The real answer, and one of the emptiest beaches in this whole guide. Half a mile of beach east of town, reached by a twenty to thirty minute walk down from the clifftop, steep in places. One reviewer describes arriving on a bank holiday when every other beach was packed and finding this one nearly empty.

No facilities at all, and a naturist section to the right. The walk back up does not get easier, but visitors describe the sunsets as incredible and the beach as wild and deserted.

Along the coast

• Branscombe — reached along the undercliff from Beer Head, with the Masons Arms inland.
• Beer — a sheltered shingle beach under white chalk cliffs with the fishing boats on it.
• Budleigh Salterton — ten minutes west, big smooth pebbles and the Otter estuary behind.

The general rule

The general rule on this coast: ten minutes of walking removes ninety per cent of people. Almost every crowded Devon beach empties out within a short walk of the car park, because most visitors will not carry a windbreak further than they have to.

Timing and the tide

Sidmouth's crowding is as much a tide problem as a people problem. On a falling tide the beach roughly doubles and the sand appears below the pebbles. Check the table — going at low water solves most of it.

A safety note

The red cliffs here are actively unstable with repeated rock falls. Whichever beach you pick, stay away from the cliff base where it is signed.