Cast your mind back to summer 2013 and those warm balmy temperatures may seem like a distant memory – hopefully it won’t be too long before we feel the sun’s radiant glow once again. Tez Plavenieks, Sitons.com editor, gives us a brief run down of what they found having collated the mountain of data from their survey of UK beach users. You can see more results by scanning the accompanying graphic.
Many choose to head for the coast during good weather – even when the sun doesn’t have his hat on large numbers flock to the seaside. In fact, most stretches of sand during high season will see crowds. Kids frolicking in rock pools, mums and dads keeping a watchful eye on their offspring – occasionally stealing a session in the brine if the desire and opportunity arises – you get the picture.
Sitons was keen to investigate the nation’s beach habits and, in partnership with Perception Kayaks Europe, rolled out their very first beach survey of UK beach users last year. The response was unprecedented, with in excess of 2,500 people taking part. With such a large snapshot of the UK’s beach visiting public involved the insights are quite revealing, we’re sure you’ll agree.
The results
Straight out of the blocks you’ll notice Cornwall (possibly unsurprisingly) tops out at number one for most visited beach county. Dorset and Devon follow closely behind whereas Norfolk nips in at number five. Pembrokeshire makes it into the top ten with Scottish beaches also having a good showing. Sussex puts in an appearance at number four, proving that shingle covered coastal venues can offer as much attraction as their sandy cousins.
Sitons asked people to tell us why they would visit their chosen area and it seems that even when spending time afloat isn’t a priority, having a good quality accessible beach is still high on the agenda. Just being by the coast is enough for many – the salty air and wide open vistas proving too much of a draw during high season.
Families love an open expanse of sand, while those actually splashing about in the drink gorged themselves with up to three hour stints at a time. A large proportion of visitors didn’t get wet at all though – proving that you don’t have to be a water baby to appreciate the coast – sitting overlooking the big blue, ice cream in hand, can often be enough – and why not?
For more information about the survey of UK beach users visit Sitons.com or email tez@sitons.com.
