Short answer: Croyde is a surf village first and a beach village second — the bay is small and the waves are the point. The village is one thatched street and it overwhelms on a hot Saturday. Dogs are restricted in summer, so Saunton five minutes south is the alternative.
This is the thing to understand before you arrive. Croyde is a small, sheltered bay between two headlands that produces the most reliable waves in north Devon. That is why the village is full of surf shops, board hire and wetsuit racks rather than deckchairs and windbreaks. If you have never surfed, this is a good place to start — lessons run through the season and in poor weather too.
One thatched street of pubs and cafés does the whole job. On a hot Saturday in August that street and its car parks are overwhelmed. The lanes in are narrow, the parking is paid and finite, and arriving late is the difference between a good day and a frustrating one.
Bring coins for the car park machine. It does not reliably take cards, the phone signal for the app is patchy, and the signage about when to pay confuses people every single week.
Croyde Beach restricts dogs over the summer. The dune paths behind stay open, but if you want a beach day with a dog between May and September, drive five minutes south to Saunton Sands, which allows dogs all year.
Croyde is one of three beaches worth your time here and it is the smallest. Saunton Sands to the south is three miles of open sand backed by the Braunton Burrows dunes, with contactless parking. Putsborough to the north is the quiet end of the Woolacombe sands, with firmer sand and its own car park — but it is approached through Georgeham on lanes that are properly tight.
Baggy Point is the best short coastal walk in the area — a full loop of about two and a half miles, manageable with children from around seven, with Lundy visible on a clear day and a lower inland path for anyone who does not want the cliff edge.
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