Margate Main Sands

Margate · Thanet · sand

Wide sandy bay beside Turner Contemporary and the old town.

What the tide does here

At a spring high tide only about 26% of Margate Main Sands is out of the water. By spring low the sea has drawn back roughly 190 metres, uncovering 85% of it — about 26 hectares of sand.

Margate Main Sands at high water: the dry beach shaded on a satellite map — **High water, 4.4 m above chart datum.** About 30% of Margate Main Sands is out of the water.

Margate Main Sands at low water: the dry beach shaded on a satellite map — **Low water, 0.9 m above chart datum.** About 79% is uncovered.

Dogs

Dogs are banned from Main Sands all day from 1 May to 30 September. From 1 October to 30 April, dogs are welcome.

Water quality

Classified Good by the Environment Agency in 2025, sampled as "Margate The Bay", a designated bathing water since 1988. Daily pollution risk forecasts appear on this page in the bathing season.

Lifeguards

RNLI lifeguards: daily 23 May-6 Sep, weekends only to 27 Sep, 10:00-18:00.

Awards

Seaside Award 2026.

Facilities

Nearby: public toilets, parking and a café or kiosk. Access: a step-free path, accessible toilets, beach wheelchairs and pushchair-friendly access. Excellent access; beach wheelchairs available; Changing Places facility nearby.

All Kent beaches on Beach Days

Tide predictions © UK Hydrographic Office. Beach shape from Environment Agency LIDAR survey data, © Environment Agency, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Facilities and places from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Bathing water classifications from the Environment Agency. Satellite imagery © Mapbox, © Maxar.