Beach Road, Hele, Ilfracombe, Devon, EX34 9QZ
Just a short distance east of Ilfracombe, tucked into its own small fold of the North Devon coast, Hele Bay is a genuinely lovely beach that often gets overlooked in favour of its more famous neighbours. That, of course, makes it all the more appealing for those who know it.
The beach is a wide, sandy cove with an abundance of rock pools that are simply brilliant for exploration at low tide. Crabs, fish, anemones and sea creatures of all descriptions inhabit the pools here, making Hele Bay one of the best rockpooling beaches in the Ilfracombe area. Children given an hour or two to explore will never want to leave, and adults tend to find themselves equally absorbed.
The bay is reached easily from the A399 just outside Ilfracombe, with a car park available nearby and free parking on Sundays. The gentle approach and accessible beach make Hele a genuinely practical choice for families who want a relaxed day at the coast without the logistical challenges that some of the more remote coves in the area present.
Historically, Hele Bay was home to smugglers who made use of the caves along the shoreline, and those cave formations are still there today, adding a wonderful sense of adventure for younger you with imagination to spare.
The nearby Hele Bay Pub sits at the top of the beach road and provides a very welcome post-beach refreshment stop. It is a proper local pub with great food, and the combination of excellent rockpooling followed by lunch with a view makes a Hele Bay day genuinely hard to beat.
Dogs are welcome on the beach, and the surrounding area offers lovely coastal walks connecting back towards Ilfracombe and eastwards along the coast. Hele Bay is one of those quietly excellent beaches that deserves more credit than it usually gets.
