Bude Sea Pool

Top choice


Built in the 1930s, this handsome seawater pool sits behind Summerleaze beach to provide a safe place for sea swimming, without the danger of tides or waves. It's perfect for kids and reluctant swimmers, and has the added benefit of warming up fast on a sunny day.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Summerleaze

0.13 MILES

Bude's main family beach is a classic bucket-and-spade affair, with its proximity to town ensuring it's awash with windbreaks in summer. It's also home to…

2. Crooklets

0.22 MILES

Slightly to the north of the town centre, this is a busy town beach backed by a huge car park. It's popular with families, beach bums and surfers alike,…

3. Bude Castle

0.32 MILES

Housed in a peculiar folly behind Summerleaze beach, Bude Castle was built by local inventor Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, whose creations included theatrical…

4. Widemouth Bay

2.74 MILES

If you're travelling with kids, the best idea for a sunny day is to head to Widemouth (pronounced wid-muth). It has acres of sand at low tide, plenty of…

5. Crackington Haven

7.21 MILES

Probably the most dramatic of Bude's beaches, it has rock shelves and pebbly sand bordered by black cliffs, speckled by a blaze of wildflowers in spring…

6. Strangles

8.43 MILES

Precious few people make the effort to seek out this remote cove, and to be fair, it's a bit rocky and pebble-strewn, not to mention quite a trek down…

7. Hartland Point

11.24 MILES

The coast around Hartland Point offers superb hiking. Tucked just under the point is the short white column of a lighthouse, which was built in 1874. You…

8. Shipwreck Museum

11.24 MILES

Artefacts and powerful photographs evoke some of the hundreds of vessels that have foundered on Hartland's jagged shore.