Lepe Beach

  • Lepe Beach - Hampshire
    © Pierre Terre and licensed for reuse under this Licence
  • Lepe Beach - Hampshire
    © Alex McGregor and licensed for reuse under this Licence
  • Lepe Beach - Hampshire
    © Gavin Tyte and licensed for reuse under this Licence
  • Lepe Beach - Hampshire
    © don cload and licensed for reuse under this Licence
  • Lepe Beach - Hampshire
    © Stuart Logan and licensed for reuse under this Licence
  • Lepe Beach - Hampshire
    © VeryMilosz and licensed for reuse under this Licence
  • A stony beach that forms part of Lepe Country Park, situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Views across to the Isle of Wight and excellent coastal walks featuring pine-fringed cliffs, D-day remains and wild flower meadows.

    The main swimming area is a short walk east of the car park.

    Type of beach

    Sand & shingle

    Lifeguard service

    No

    Dogs friendly beach?

    Dogs are not permitted on main part of the beach between April and September. This area is marked by the flagpole on the Western end of the beach, and the telephone cable pole with the big yellow sign on the Eastern end

    Hampshire dog friendly beaches »

    Activities

    • Kayaking/canoeing
    • Good fishing
    • Swimming/bathing
    • Wind surfing

    Facilities

    • Cafe/restaurant
    • Toilets
    • Disabled facilities
    • First aid point

    Nearest town

    Southampton

    Postcode

    SO45 1AD

    OS grid ref.

    SZ 4560 9849

    Parking

    There are a couple of Pay and Display car parks nearby.

    Water quality

    Water quality star rating

    Awards

    Marine Conservation Society Recommended

    Submit a correction

    Lepe Beach Reviews

    Parking

    Malcolm Carter
    May 22nd 2022

    All the council is on the make for car parking prices with very little in return.
    The bins were full and there isn’t enough of them, litter everywhere, dirty toilets, and being a dog owner I am ashamed and apologetic towards other owners who do not pick up after their dogs, they give the conscious dog owners a bad name. In saying that there isn’t enough bins, but not an excuse.
    Professional so called dog walkers being the worse culprits as they walk too many dogs to monitor them also sit in there car whilst the dogs are let loose.
    There is a lovely cafe but in the shop and information centre and office there seems to be available staff that could monitor the area for all of the reasons above.
    There’s more, why can’t local residents purchase at one price parking tickets for Lupe, Calshot and the normal town car parks, the insensitive would you would get more locals out of season using the amenities in those places.
    Lastly why is there never any positive feed back from the appropriate bodies, in answer to this review. Normally it is something to hide or won’t change ideas coming from the public. Amen.

    Locals are penalised

    Maureen claridge
    Aug 13th 2022

    I lived here for 60 yrs leap a mile and half from-were I live ,was our playground and hoilday space very disappointed about the car parking
    Locals get no discount I had payed the yearly ticket fee when it was interduce
    But at £60 now being a pensioner it unaffordable for most, I had a dog and this was a great winter space to walk her, but to pay £60 or £2 hr to expensive and now the tourists turning up in droves makes the road to dangerous to walk , also no bus service only 6 week’s hoildays so people like myself whos pays council taxes can’t use the beach , some areas in the country give discounts to locals but no hcc are lacking in empathy to locals

    Sep 24th 2020

    Parking is so expensive for the time you get but it’s a gorgeous place to be at sunset

    Phils birthday

    melanie
    Feb 02nd 2020

    My old mates fave place ;(

    First visit

    Maura
    Sep 25th 2021

    Really enjoyed our visit today, lovely location, beach beautiful and natural. Parking easy. Great for unsteady walkers, for families and dogs.
    Very relaxing. Thank you

    Fantastic location

    Bailey
    Oct 15th 2020

    Love this country park when visiting family, so much to do from walks, play park, sensory garden and of course the beach and always have a great time. Kids never want to go home!

    Parking too expensive

    Aug 23rd 2020

    It’s the price of the parking that puts one off.  We paid £9 for about 4 hours and it’s not like there are great amenities. If you enjoy water sports such as kayaking or wind surfing you won’t mind so much. There is a beach restaurant, I don’t know how dear it is as we were barbecuing. The mens toilet was filthy and the ladies had the usual long queue.  When oh when will architects and builders get the hint that ladies require more and bigger toilets in public places?

    This time we didn’t get to the WW2 bits as it was a bit blowy out there, but have enjoyed that before and the views across the water are pretty.  The barbecue and the area designated for that are good as a meeting space for families and friends from all over the area to get together. This is the third time we’ve enjoyed this facility, including the patch of grass for a kick about and we are able to bring the dogs alone.

    I’m sure some people don’t mind paying that parking fee, but when you’ve put down £40 for the barbecue spot you don’t expect to also pay for parking, let alone that much!

    Aug 20th 2020

    No bins at all at the beach, and very little sand. very stoned underfoot and quite painful. unclear signs on entrance and exit of the cafe but very nice coffee and hot chocolate

    Lovely Place

    Sharron Grundy
    Jul 21st 2022

    Lovely café with friendly staff. Just café food, not cordon blue but satisfactory. Two car parks, pay as you leave, very fair, NOT expensive as a lot of reviews have said. Nice clean toilets. Lovely beach side walk with a couple of meadows along the way. Super views across to the Isle of Wight and a bit of boat activity for some added interest. Also a nice childrens play area. The only downside was that there seemed to be a distinct lack of dog poop bins which really needs addressing. Other than that we would happily return

    Dog poo everywhere

    Local resident
    Dec 31st 2021

    Dogs off the leash everywhere. Dog poo everywhere. The sandy patch in front of the car park is the family beach in the summer, with dogs prohibited. After September the dogs again are again allowed. It is 12 degree nowadays in December and the children are playing in the sand with poo everywhere. Same situation on the upper parking lot. Dog poo is everywhere on the lawn. This beach is now used by routine by professional dog walkers because nowhere else they can stay in the car while their dogs are running around unsupervised. Serious conflicts with other beach users are pre-programmed and happen often. But the Lepe team doesn’t care and is just after the parking fees. Dogs rules have been loosened year after year.

    Expensive parking

    Jenny
    Oct 13th 2020

    I was appalled to find there is a parking charge even if you drive in to see if you want to stay. If you don’t know it, that’s ridiculous. You’ll finish up with people parking up the approach roads….
    And the machine wasn’t working properly either so there was a long queue!
    And I was a passenger so didn’t know the car reg offhand which also added to the stress.
    Expensive for limited facilities.

    Over priced

    May 31st 2021

    Expensive. Very little too do. Stoney beach, dominated by parked cars. Really the only thing there is a cafe and then you have to pay up to 9 pounds to park. Better off hill head , lee on silent. Free to park and same type of beach. Oh and when they built the new cafe they took away huge part of car park for no reason, removed about 40 spaces which now house 2 picnic tables
    , so expect to queue to get in on a sunny day.

    May 25th 2020

    Not a particularly friendly beach. It’s ok if you want a short walk or to get out somewhere local. It’s got too touristy and has lost its rugged touch