Beesands slipway

Beesands sits on the open coast of Start Bay, a broad shingle bay on the South Devon coast, bounded by rocky headlands at each end and sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly winds by the land behind it; it takes the full force of easterly weather, which drives waves directly onto the shingle. Immediately offshore lies the Skerries Bank, a shallow sandbank that gives its name to the Skerries Bank and Surrounds Marine Conservation Zone, which protects rock and sediment habitats, seagrass and subtidal sand and mud, along with the pink sea fan and the spiny lobster.

About a mile and a half south, the coast reaches Start Point, described by Trinity House as one of the most exposed peninsulas on the English coast and marked by Start Point Lighthouse, a white castellated tower built in 1836 and standing 28 metres tall. Its light shows three white flashes every ten seconds, visible from Prawle Point in the west across the whole of Start Bay, with a fixed red sector marking the Skerries Bank. A tidal race forms off the point, extending for almost a mile with a stream reaching around 3 knots and rips particularly pronounced during spring tides; Sea Kayak Devon, a local operator, launches from Beesands for trips around the point, describing the passage as one for experienced paddlers.

Between Beesands and Start Point lies Hallsands, a village largely lost to the sea after offshore shingle dredging removed around 650,000 tonnes of material for the Devonport dockyard between 1897 and 1902, stripping the beach of its natural defences. Easterly gales and exceptionally high tides finished the village on the night of 26 to 28 January 1917. The ruined cottages still cling to the low cliff there and remain visible from the South West Coast Path and from the water, though the site itself is closed off by cliff instability.