Beach Days
Know the beach before you go.
Most tide apps give you a number. Beach Days shows you what that number actually means — how much sand there'll be, and when it'll disappear.
- Real tides. Official UK Hydrographic Office predictions, from the nearest tide station to each beach — not a rough estimate from miles away.
- Real terrain. Environment Agency LIDAR surveys of the actual shore, so the waterline moves the way it really does across that beach.
- Plan ahead. Scrub through the day, or pick a date next week and see the conditions you'll actually get.
- The practical stuff. Parking, toilets, cafés, lifeguard cover, and dog rules taken from current council orders.
How it works
Every beach has an elevation survey behind it. Beach Days takes the tide height predicted for that beach at the moment you've chosen, and works out how much of the surveyed shore is above the water — so "60% of the beach" means 60% of that beach's actual sand, not a generic figure.
That's why the answer differs so much between beaches on the same tide. A steep shingle bank barely changes; a shallow sand flat can gain hundreds of metres in an hour.
Where the data comes from
Tide predictions come from the UK Hydrographic Office. Shore elevation comes from Environment Agency LIDAR surveys. Water quality ratings come from the Environment Agency's bathing water classifications. Dog restrictions come from the current Public Spaces Protection Orders published by each district council, and each one records the source it was read from and the date it was checked.
Nothing is estimated where a real source exists, and where we don't know something we say so rather than guessing.
Who's behind it
Beach Days is built and run by Michael Clover, working independently in the United Kingdom. It exists because no tide app answered the question we actually had on the way to the coast: is there going to be any beach left when we get there?
It covers the Kent coast now, and grows from there. If a beach is wrong, missing, or its dog rules have changed, we'd genuinely like to know — that feedback is how the coverage improves.
Get in touch
Corrections, requests for a beach, or anything else: hello@beachdays.uk