Tankerton Beach

Whitstable · North Kent · shingle

Shingle beach with grass slopes and The Street shingle spit at low tide.

What the tide does here

At a spring high tide only about 28% of Tankerton Beach is out of the water. By spring low the sea has drawn back roughly 330 metres, uncovering 75% of it — about 196 hectares of shingle.

Tankerton Beach at high water: the dry beach shaded on a satellite map — **High water, 5.2 m above chart datum.** About 28% of Tankerton Beach is out of the water.

Tankerton Beach at low water: the dry beach shaded on a satellite map — **Low water, 1.0 m above chart datum.** About 59% is uncovered.

Dogs

From 1 May to 30 September dogs are banned from the beach between Pier Avenue and The Street. Dogs must be on a lead all year on the promenade there, and at Long Rock nature reserve at the Swalecliffe end.

Water quality

Classified Excellent by the Environment Agency in 2025, sampled as "Tankerton", a designated bathing water since 2007. Daily pollution risk forecasts appear on this page in the bathing season.

Lifeguards

No RNLI lifeguard patrol here.

Awards

Blue Flag & Seaside Award 2026.

Facilities

Nearby: public toilets, parking and a café or kiosk. Access: a step-free path and pushchair-friendly access. Firm path along top of shingle; deep shingle makes waterline access hard.

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.