Nestled on the South Devon coast is Blackpool Sands, a Blue Flag awarded beach named after the nearby village of Blackpool – not to be confused with the Lancashire seaside resort of the same name. However, while Blackpool Sands might evoke visions of a vast sandy stretch, the beach has caused a star with visitors who claimed they felt “misled” and “fooled” once they paid the beach a visit.
Posting a review to Tripadvisor, one beach goer said: “Don’t be fooled by the name it’s not sandy just shingles. We drove a long way to visit here and [were] so disappointed, the shingles were so sharp, you couldn’t walk bare footed.” [SIC]
A second Tripadvisor commenter said that “visitors have been mislead over the beach’s obviously misleading name”, adding: “Awful, painful stones and no sand.”
Blackpool Sands is actually a gravel beach and is not appropriate for building sand castles, but does offer some lovely views of the surrounding coastline.
The beach is set in a sheltered bay amongst evergreens and pines in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and despite some of the negative reviews, is described by the local tourism board Discover Dartmouth as “one of the most popular family beaches on this stretch of coast.”
However, it has been listed as one of the “most disappointing beaches” by Preply based on the number of negative Tripadvisor reviews.
“With over one in five TripAdvisor reviewers expressing dissatisfaction, Blackpool Sands ranks among the top five most disappointing beaches in the UK,” said Preply in its report.
The beach came closely behind North Shore Beach in first place, Morecambe Beach in second and Weston-super-Mare Beach in third, who were all dubbed “disappointing” by the study.
“Despite this beach’s beauty, many critics expressed that Blackpool Sands doesn’t quite live up to its name, consisting mostly of rocks and pebbles,” added Preply’s expert.
“While it, ironically, may not be the sandiest beach in Britain, this beach still attracts thousands of happy visitors each year.”
The beach accommodates visitors with a car park, although this is chargeable in the summer months, as well as a café and watersports including paddle board or kayak rentals.
While there are negative reviews of the beach on Tripadvisor, many visitors were more than happy with their experience at the Devon beach. One visitor wrote: “Such a beautiful beach with a fantastic cafe and facilities. We went for afternoon fish and chips which were lovely, especially the curry sauce!”
A second visitor who spent a day at the beach with family described it as a “fab beach” and commented on the “clear sea”.