Beach huts and a mermaid in West Wittering

Last weekend we made an impromptu trip to the coast. With the promise of temperatures of up to thirty degrees, we left the house at the crack of sparrows in a quest southward to West Wittering. Set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, West Wittering Beach in Sussex is a large sandy beach located a stones throw away from Chichester Harbour.

With a constant stream of cars arriving at the mown grass car park, we grabbed a coffee from the Beach Cafe and a wind breaker come sunshade from the local shop before heading to the beach tout suite. Setting up at 9am meant we were able to choose a prime position in front of a few sand dunes with an incredible view of the sea and beyond ahead of us.

We’d checked the Tide Times the night before so we knew the tide would be close to being out not long after we arrived. Obviously we didn’t anticipate quite how far out it would be but that really didn’t matter. It was beautiful, the sun was out and the skies were bright blue.

Offering fantastic view of Chichester Harbour and the South Downs beyond that, the natural unspoilt beach of West Wittering is a favourite destination and one of the premier Blue Flag beaches in the country.

As well as having the highest water quality and great facilities there are shallow lagoons on the sandy flats even at low tide. It’s popular with wind and kite surfers and the area is renowned for its wildlife and birds.

Although we love being abroad, there is something to be said about heading to the seaside for some good old fashioned bucket and spade fun. The sandy flats were POD’s first port of call when we arrived and the scenery we were surrounded with was just glorious.

POD was quite happy initially just filling her bucket with sand, tipping it out and starting again. There weren’t many people about at this point so it was a great opportunity to just watch what was happening. From the swimmers and a beach buggy in front of us to the families arriving behind us.

There was little movement from any of the beach huts at this time so it provided the perfect opportunity to capture them in all their glory. I love how colourful they all were with no hut seemingly the same as another.

Some of the beach huts we saw were just beautiful. You almost wanted to knock on the door to see if anyone was in so you could have a little peek inside. One family had it so right, sitting right outside their hut with a table, chairs, umbrella and large jug of Pimm’s!

We made a couple of trips for refreshments while we were at the beach. POD taking a fancy to standing on the porch of one beach hut and knocking on the door to see if anyone was in. Thankfully there wasn’t – unless they were sleeping!

There were lots of kites on West Wittering beach too, such a great contrast against the bright blue sky. Most of the people flying them seemed to know what they were doing although we did witness a few nose dives.

Although POD went down to the seafront a couple of times, we spent the majority of our time chilling by the windbreaker enjoying the views and taking in the sunshine. We did get to dig a hole for POD though which she decided she wanted filling with water.

Before she decided to climb into it and insisted on being covered with sand. The POD Father then transformed her into a mermaid.

Having spent a few hours on the beach and with the area becoming much busier we decided to make our way home after that. It was a good call as the local area was completely gridlocked with people trying to get to the beach. Heading in the opposite direction, we got home swiftly. So much so we were able to fill POD’s paddling pool, have a bit of fun in that and enjoy the last rays of the day in the garden.

Linking up with #whatsthestory here on PODcast.