Naturist / Nudist Beaches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland

Norman's Bay - near Bexhill

East Sussex

Very quite. Flat shingle beach on rare un-built-up part of the south coast

This unofficial beach is situated between the Cooden Beach end of Bexhill and the seaside village of Normans Bay and is reported to have been in use by naturists for more than 30 years.

Getting There

StreetMap

GoogleMap

OS Landranger map 199 Grid Reference TQ690057 to TQ697059.

From the east: From the Cooden Beach Hotel take the minor road to Pevensey. This initially follows the sea front behind beach huts etc. When the road bears right and goes over a level crossing there is roadside parking for a dozen or so cars. Cross the road to the beach and turn right. The naturist bit, unsigned, starts after a couple of groynes.

Access from the west (Coast Rd.) through the caravan site involves use of a private road and there have been reports of problems, so this route is probably best avoided.

Access by rail: Normans Bay railway station is about half a mile on level ground. Cooden Beach railway station is about a mile on level ground. These are on the line from Eastbourne to Hastings. Remarkably Normans Bay has one train per hour, and Cooden Beach two trains per hour.

Train service to Normans Bay is now limited to once every 2 hours (Mon - Sat) and no service at all on Sunday. However the is "still a good service to Cooden Beach".

Description

Between the beach and Hooe Level (ex salt marsh now water meadows) there is a pebble bank to stop Hooe Level being swamped by the sea. The beach side of this bank is pebbles at the top, with shingle and sand at low tide. At very low tide there is a large expanse of sand, too flat to allow swimming. The other side of the pebble bank has the local railway after a grassy bank and field. The naturist section of this beach is very quiet, with virtually no textile usage. Visitors include the usual single males, hetero couples and families. Due to the flat countryside it can probably get rather windy so a lot of people bring wind-breaks. There are no dunes to hide in so there can not be much in the way of problems [with 'lurkers"].

Facilities

None to speak of. Close to the caravan site car park in Normans Bay there is a well maintained toilet block, though parking is difficult there.

Water Quality

Is said to have improved now that Eastbourne have upgraded their sewerage disposal to an acceptable level

Map

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Comments

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Nossa Paixao

Jul-20

i will love it
Rob Montier

Apr-20

Not long home from a visit today. Not quite warm enough...but I did see a Sunday train!
Albert Hall

Jun-20

Be aware that there are regular attempts by the beach patrol to stop nudeists. For what reason I know not because when I inquired about it to Wealden and Rother Councils they said that they had had not a single complaint!! There used too be an OFFICIAL NUDIST poster but that has been removed. It has been used as a nudist beach for at least thirty years. By the way nudity is not in itself illegal and public nuisance has to be proved. The beach is not as used as it once was and a lot of users seem to have shifted to EASTBOURNE to the Beachy Head far end of the Promenade
Russell

May-20

Last weekend I had my first visit of the year to Normans Bay. It was still pretty quiet, and with the a long way tide out, not that enticing to wander into the sea au naturel, especially with a fisherman there and, later, a 4x4 parked up at the top (surely illegally). All the same, a few brave souls were out; I just think it is better on weekdays, when the place is more deserted. If you are on the train, by the way, I see from the new timetable (starting 23rd May) that trains don't stop at Normans Bay during the weekend. So be prepared to walk from Cooden.
Trip Report

2004

I've been going to Norman's Bay nudist beach for a few years now and find it a lovely atmosphere. It's relatively popular on warm weekends with between a dozen and 40-50 people - depending on the sunshine - spread over 300-400 yards of clean shingle beach (mostly single males and couples), but one can always find a quiet spot and the sea is clean for those who enjoy swimming. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed and when the sand is exposed it's lovely to walk paddling along the shoreline, though it's advisable to bring wind-shield canvases to minimise breezes and maximise the heat when sunbathing.
Mike

Jun-20

I visited the beach on a warm and breezy Friday in late June. The only people I initially saw on the beach were three rod fishermen. I crunched along the pebbles towards the naturist bit passing two men in trunks, presumably a couple. Clambering through a gap in the next groyne revealed a naturist 60s couple sheltering behind the groyne and a windbreak. After the next groyne was another fisherman, in jeans and shirt, and a couple of groynes further a lone naturist male. After another few groynes I was at the other end of the naturist's presrve, almost at the car park mentioned in the 'from the west' directions. I went back to the section near the couple and stripped off, but the presence of the fisherman was an inhibitor to doing much other than sitting modestly behind a groyne. Not worth travelling far to visit this beach, but OK if it happens to be the one nearest to you. Maybe better when more naturists would make you feel less conspicuous in the undefined naturist area.

Photos

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Beach, Norman's Bay

via Geograph