Short answer: In the village, Funder Island's crazy golf and a long lunch cover a wet afternoon. Worth the drive: Ilfracombe Aquarium (20 minutes), Watermouth Castle (20 minutes), and The Big Sheep near Bideford (40 minutes) for a full indoor day. Mortehoe Museum is free and takes half an hour.
Woolacombe is a beach village. It does not have a wet-weather infrastructure the way a town does — there is no cinema, no leisure centre, no big indoor attraction within the village itself. What it has is a handful of good places to eat, one small amusement centre, and a short drive to the places that do have roofs.
That is not a reason to write the day off. It is a reason to decide early whether you are staying put or getting in the car, because half-committing to both is how you end up sitting in a car park watching the rain.
Funder Island in the middle of the village is the obvious children's answer — crazy golf under cover, small rides for the under-fives, ice cream and slushies. It is dated in a way that is genuinely part of its appeal, and an hour there buys you the goodwill for a long lunch afterwards.
That lunch is doing more work than you think. The Jube, set back off the front, takes dogs indoors and has enough seating to absorb a wet afternoon without anyone feeling rushed. The Barn above the beach is bigger and louder and has the view down the bay, which is dramatic in bad weather rather than ruined by it. Drift and Meraki are the coffee-and-cake answer if you want somewhere quieter.
Ilfracombe Aquarium sits on the harbour and is laid out as a journey from moorland stream down to open sea, with every species native to Britain. It is small — most families are through in under an hour — but the staff are what make it, and it pairs well with lunch in Ilfracombe and a look at the harbour.
Watermouth Castle, between Ilfracombe and Combe Martin, is the bigger commitment and the better wet-day bet with under-tens. Walk-through castle rooms, a gnome village, arcade machines, water gardens and a toboggan run. Plenty of it is indoors, and it is aimed squarely at exactly the age group that gets most miserable in rain.
The Big Sheep, down past Bideford, is north Devon's standard wet-weather insurance policy — indoor play, animal shows, a rollercoaster, and lambing in spring. It is about forty minutes. The catch is that it runs a reduced timetable outside school holidays and closes some weekdays, so check before you set off rather than after.
Morte Point out of Mortehoe is better in bad weather than good. The sea running against the rocks at the point is the whole show, the seals are still there, and the path is a proper walk rather than a scramble. Take actual waterproofs and boots — the rock is sharp and gets slippery — and finish at Town Farmhouse or one of the two Mortehoe pubs.
Mortehoe Museum is a few doors away, free with a donation box, and takes about half an hour. It is not a day out on its own, but as the thing you do between the walk and lunch it is exactly right.
Driving to Putsborough or Barricane in the rain to look at the sea. The beach is right there, the view is the same, and you will have used a tank of goodwill on the lanes for nothing.
See the full Woolacombe guide, filtered by who's with you.
Plan your day near Woolacombe →