The UK's top 10 best seaside spots for wild swimming have been revealed and Clevedon Beach , just a few miles outside of Bristol, has ranked among the top three. Outdoor clothing and equipment brand, GO Outdoors, ranked the top 10 wild swimming locations based on factors like the average annual number of sunshine hours and rainy days they get each year, the total number of Google searches for each site over the past 12 months, and the maximum sea temperature in July. And each seaside town was then given an overall wild swimming score out of 10 with Clevedon receiving a very respectable score of 9.
48, putting it in joint third place with Bracelet Bay, in Wales. READ MORE I went to Greenbank Pool an hour from Bristol and was taken aback I visited gorgeous outdoor swimming spot 45-minute drive from Bristol and was surprised The two locations fell behind Clacton Beach in Essex, which was rated 9.76 out of 10 - and overall winner Portland Harbour in Dorset, located just a couple of hours' drive from Bristol, which scored a near-perfect 9.
94 out of 10. Clevedon Beach ranked second on the list when it came to the warmest water temperatures in July - with temperatures reaching an average of 21.6°C, only fractionally less than the 22.
5°C that have been recorded at Clacton Beach in Essex, and making Clevedon a very pleasant spot for wild swimming in the summer, without the initial cold water shock. The North Somerset seaside town also sees an annual average of 1,631 hours of sunshine - almost 10 weeks each year, putting it above the likes of Clacton Beach which gets 1,611 hours, and Penarth Beach and Bracelet Bay in Wales, which each see just 1,583 sunshine hours a year. Clevedon also gets less rainy days than spots like Bracelet Bay, or Lake Windermere in the Lake District - with just 184 rainy days a year, compared to 218 at Lake Windermere and 200 at Bracelet Bay.
And when it comes to water quality, Clevedon has been given a 'good' rating by the Environment Agency for the last five years running, with two stars out of a possible three. This puts it on a level with Clacton Beach in Essex, Penarth Beach in Wales, and Bembridge Beach on the Isle of Wight, when it comes to water quality rating. But one thing that Clevedon has that the other top 10 spots do not is its iconic pier, which draws tens of thousands of visitors each summer - and was once described by English poet and writer, John Betjeman, as "the most beautiful pier in England".
You can see the full list of the best places to wild swim in the UK below: Rank Location Country Max sea temperature Water quality /3 Average annual sunshine hours Average annual number of rainy days Mean wind speed (m/s) per 10m Total Google searches (Jun 2023-May 2024) Wild swimming score out of 10 1 Portland Harbour England 19.4°C 3 1,665 167 7.52 1,130 9.
94 2 Clacton Beach England 22.5°C 2 1,611 155 6.87 1,690 9.
76 3 Bracelet Bay Wales 20.0°C 3 1,583 200 6.65 490 9.
48 3 Clevedon Beach England 21.6°C 2 1,631 184 6.51 220 9.
48 5 Ringstead Bay England 19.6°C 3 1,640 177 7.04 0 9.
39 6 Bembridge Beach England 21.1°C 2 1,699 152 6.51 0 9.
14 7 Lake Windermere England 20.0°C 3 1,580 218 5.55 10,770 9.
08 8 Charmouth Beach England 20.1°C 3 1,545 176 7.22 170 8.
95 9 Holywell Bay England 18.7°C 3 1,502 199 7.55 1,440 8.
92 10 Penarth Beach Wales 21.0°C 2 1,583 192 6.07 670 8.
68 And the full study by GO Outdoors is available here ..
