Best beaches in Sussex for families

Sussex has the best beach in the South East. It also has some that aren't worth your time. Here's how to tell them apart. Camber Sands is the one. The only significant sand dune system in East Sussex, miles of unbroken golden sand, shallow water at low tide. The car parking is expensive and the facilities are basic. A handful of cafes and not much else. None of that matters once you're actually on the beach. Children run straight to the dunes and don't come back for an hour. That's what you want from a beach. Winchelsea Beach, ten miles west of Hastings, is the quieter alternative. Shingle rather than sand, but there's a sandy area at low tide and the kind of uncrowded calm that Camber completely lacks in August. It wins the Clean Beach Award consistently. Rye Harbour Nature Reserve is a walk away if you want to extend the day. The drive there is good too, the coast road between Hastings and Rye being one of the better drives in the South East. Brighton Beach is shingle, which divides people sharply. The upside is that the seafront is genuinely excellent. The pier, the food options, the energy of the place. Children who are past the sandcastle phase often prefer it to quieter options because there's actually something going on. Eastbourne has a more traditional sandy seafront that works better with younger children and doesn't require navigating Brighton's crowds. Seaford is the one worth knowing about if you want somewhere quiet: a proper shingle beach with the Seven Sisters as a backdrop and almost nobody on it on a weekday. Birling Gap deserves a separate mention. A small beach at the base of the Seven Sisters cliffs, accessible via a steep staircase from the National Trust car park above. Not suitable for pushchairs or anyone who struggles with steps. For everyone else it's one of the most dramatic settings on the south coast. Go early, go out of season if possible, and accept that the stairs are part of the experience.