Service StatusBeaches in the west
Yarmouth beach
Yarmouth's shingle and sand beach is a great place for bird watchers and there are beautiful views of the Solent. Unsuitable for swimming due to strong offshore currents. Off the A3054 - Fort Victoria Country Park. Maritime Museum, Marine Aquarium and Planetarium.
Café, toilets, picnic areas and parking.
Colwell Bay
A long sheltered sand and shingle beach with stunning views of the Solent, Colwell Bay often ranks as one of the Island's cleanest beaches. Calm seas, clean water and a gentle slope make it probably the safest for swimming and perfect for young families. The sand, particularly at low tide is perfect for building sandcastles! Totland Bay is just a short walk along the promenade.
Parking, toilets, beach shops, deckchairs, beach huts, cafés plus facilities for windsurfing, canoeing and paddleboats plus boat trips.
Totland Bay
A quiet bay with a clean sand and shingle beach, safe bathing, small pier, café and restaurant. Renowned for its fantastic sunset views, it's popular for families with small children. Reached by way of narrow winding road through low cliffs. The somewhat busier Colwell Bay is a short walk along the Victorian promenade.
Toilets, parking, café, refreshments, shops, beach huts, campsite, slipway, jet ski-ing & windsurfing.
Alum Bay beach
Famous for the coloured sands, this is a vast bay backed by towering cliffs, with breathtaking views of The Needles rocks and lighthouse. There are steps and a chairlift down to the pebble beach from the Needles Pleasure Park and Battery. A great place for sunsets but swimmers should be aware of strong currents.
Toilets, refreshments and parking are at The Needles Park on the cliff top. Boat trips are available at certain times during the summer.
Freshwater Bay
A small pebble, shingle and sandy beach, with spectacular views of the chalk cliffs. Although shelving steeply, this is one of the Island's safest swimming areas. Local walks along the cliffs give fantastic views. 18-hole golf course close by.
Restaurants, cafés and gift shops, toilets and parking.
Compton Bay beach
Between Freshwater Bay and Brook on the main coast road, steep steps lead down to this huge unspoilt deep-red sandy beach. A firm favourite with visitors who like to get off the beaten track, Compton Bay offers safe-bathing, great surfing, windsurfing and other watersports - there no hire facilities. Popular with walkers, fossil hunters searching for dinosaur bones and footprints and also photographers searching for the perfect sunset.
Parking on the cliffs, toilets, refreshments in summer.
Brook beach
A lovely sandy beach famous for the petrified pine forest, which can be seen at low tide off Hanover Point. Reached via a pathway through crumbly, yellow brown cliffs, budding fossil hunters should keep an eye out as plenty of dinosaur remains have been found here.
Refreshments at Hanover House, Brook. Car parking and toilets.