Ainsdale Beach, Southport

Ainsdale-on-Sea is the southern end of Southport, and it is the one Sefton beach with RNLI lifeguards on it. They are on duty daily from late March to mid September, and the red and yellow flags mean what they say. At Crosby or Southport sands the safest advice is to stay well back from the water. Here you can actually let them swim.

You drive onto the sand and park there, which children find thrilling and parents find mildly stressful. It costs £10 for the day between 1 April and 30 September, or £40 for a Sefton resident season ticket, £80 if you are not local. Blue Badge holders go free. The car park closes without much warning for tides, weather or events, so have a plan B.

The toilet block has been refurbished and is genuinely decent: baby change, an outside shower for sandy legs, a drinking water station and a Changing Places facility that stays open through the winter when the rest shuts.

Behind the beach the dunes run for miles and are a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which is the sort of designation that also means excellent running about. Dogs are excluded from two zones either side of the main entrance from May to September.

Know before you go

Ainsdale is the lifeguarded beach on this coast. If anyone is actually going in the water, come here rather than Southport or Crosby, and swim between the red and yellow flags.
The car park closes for tides, weather and events, and it shuts entirely from 1 October. Ainsdale station is a walk away if the sand is closed to cars.
Dogs are banned from two seasonal exclusion zones, 200 metres either side of the main entrance, from 1 May to 30 September. Fines start at £75 for not clearing up.
It is a serious kite surfing beach. That is fun to watch and a reason to keep small children well away from the launching area.

Seasonal: Car park and toilets 1 April to 30 September. Check before travelling.

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