Barricane Beach
Woolacombe Devon
We love the beach at Woolacombe on the North Devon coast – a wonderful, three-mile-long stretch of golden sand that’s popular with surfers and sunbathers, families and couples alike. But by far our favourite place in Woolacombe lies a few hundred metres to the east, where Barricane Beach is a slender sliver of sand tucked in between the rocks that is famously made up of tiny shell particles that have travelled here all the way from the Caribbean. Dogs are permitted (on a lead) during summer, and it’s a great spot for poking around among the rocks and exploring the sands beyond and the path up to nearby Morthoe. Better still, it’s a great place to eat, with a decent beach café that transforms itself into a Sri Lankan restaurant and takeaway every night during the summer, serving fabulous curries between 5pm and 7pm to a devoted public which you can either enjoy from a handful of tables or on the beach itself – in between paddles if it’s warm enough. They also do small portions for kids, as well as jacket potatoes and suchlike for the fussier ones. Bring a blanket, a few beers or a bottle of wine, and make a night of it – the sunsets too can be memorable.
