Britain’s Best Blue Flag Beaches
Which received the rating for 2025
If you are considering visiting a beach over half-term, you’ll want to see the latest list of Blue Flag awarded-beaches. The criteria for winning a Blue Flag covers water quality, environmental management and services.
With 187 awarded in the British Isles and Ireland, there are too many to list all of them, here. The Beach Guide has a comprehensive list of every beach and what to find there, as well as their recommendations for clean beaches in regions all over the country. You can search facilities, sea temperature and more and I use it when visiting a new area. Visit thebeachguide.co.uk.
The full list of Blue Flag beaches is here, but here’s my top three from the long-list, out of beaches I’ve visited:
Botany Bay, Kent
No, not in Australia – although I’ve been there too – but in Kent, between Broadstairs and Margate. This stretch of coast has beautiful sandy beaches and dramatic cliffs and many have been awarded Blue Flags. It’s worth discovering this region, if you haven’t visited before. My tip: Margate is on the up, Broadstairs retains its charm and I think Deal is the best of all of them. visitthanet.co.uk
Oddicombe Beach, Devon
We visited Oddicombe Beach this time last year, picking our way along the coast, on a stretch of the South West Coast Path. It’s a tiny beach by Torquay and is busy in the summer, but it’s really cute and well-served and you can catch the funicular railway to the clifftop if you can’t be bothered to hike it. englishriviera.co.uk
Tenby, Wales
Tenby has three entries on the Blue Flag list for 2025, with Castle Beach Tenby, North Tenby and South Tenby all making the cut. I have fond memories of the couple of years I spent in South Wales and would recommend anyone visit the beautiful beaches on the Welsh coast. Tenby, with its pretty harbour and castle, is a cute seaside town and the beaches are lovely, visitwales.com