West Bay Harbour, Dorset, United Kingdom

5Ann H 5:00 PM Jul 30, 2022

Hidden gem
We really didn't know what to expect when we arrived after a visit to nearby Bridport but we were very pleasantly surprised with what we found. A pretty harbour, beach area and a marina together with lovely little kiosks, cafes and shops - something for everyone to enjoy. More upmarket restaurants and pubs as well made this a great all round destination.

4Richard W 5:00 PM Jul 22, 2021

Early start is recommended.
Being in the middle of a heatwave we decided to arrive early to West Bay so we could climb the hill and get the fantastic views before the heat of the day. We arrived at 8.30am which was ideal as we had the choice of parking spaces, just 2 hours later it would be very difficult to get parked. We were very pleasently surprised to find parking prices were 50p an hour. We had 3 hours in the harbour car park and then had to move as it was a maximum of 3 hours parking. We moved the car to outside the amusement arcade for another couple of hours and paid a total of £2.50p for our time at the resort. The climb up the hill was a bit daunting but at that time of the morning we were on our own so took it slow. The views were incredible but the council could think about putting some benches at the top as a sit down was definitely needed and there are no seats. The trip down was worse than the way up and we had to choose where we put our feet very carefully, I slipped on the dew wet grass and thought I was going to slide all the way down. I was a bit disappointed with the shingle beach and wearing sandals I had to keep stopping to get the very painful little pieces of stone out of my shoes. We stopped for a coffee at a cafe called The Cornish Pasty and the said pastys smelt so good we had to have one. The harbour has many benches to stop for a rest on and take in the sights and sounds of the working harbour. Walking the far side of the harbour we found at the end a viewpoint with boards of information that were very interesting. With everything in a small area we were able to see everything, including a bag of chips at lunchtime, a couple of pounds on the slot machines in the amusement arcade, and a walk around the antique emporeum. Starting early is definitely the way forward as we had seen and done everything before the place got really crowded.