New Thanet Coastal Explorer Packs for hire

• Written by: Lorraine
• Written on: May 23, 2017
• Filed Under: Activities, Children, Days Out, Local Area

The wonderful area where we are lucky to live and have our holiday homes is best known for it’s 26 miles of coastline – boasting the closest sandy beaches to London – even closer since the High Speed 1 Train service began from St Pancras making all three Thanet towns just over an hour from the capital.

So imagine our delight when the tourist office emailed to tell us they have put together new Coastal Explorer packs that our guests can hire when they visit the area, to get the absolute most out of exploring our glorious Thanet coastline.

Did you know – Thanet’s shoreline represents 20% of the UK’s and 12% of Europe’s coastal chalk and is the longest continuous stretch of coastal chalk in the whole of Britain. It boasts seven Blue Flag Award beaches and three Seaside Awards bays.

Journey from one end to the other and you’ll see incredible diversity too. Joss Bay is great for surfing. Botany Bay has its chalk stacks and at one end a chalk arch through to Kingsgate Bay. Less well known beaches include Stone Bay and Dumpton Gap, West Bay, St. Mildred’s Bay and Minnis Bay. Fact is you could spend each day of your holiday visiting one or more different beaches. You’ll find most going on at the main town beaches, Margate Mains Sands, Broadstairs’ Viking Bay and Ramsgate Main Sands but every Thanet beach has it’s own attractions and every one of them is a golden sandy haven that’s a world away from your every day life and just waiting here for you to enjoy.

There’s plenty do do on our beaches beyond the obvious paddle, sun bathe, sand castle building, or picnic. The Thanet Coast Project run lots of fun educational events, the Viking Coastal Trail  is- 32 miles (51.4km) of sandy beaches, spectacular cliffs and pretty villages clearly signposted for walking, running or cycling. There’s lots to see in Thanet rockpools or maybe you’ll find yourself flying a kite, fishing or looking for crabs.

At certain times key events take place including The Margate Masters  where you can watch Britain’s best beach volleyball teams on Margate Sands, Margate’s Beach Motorcross where trail bikes bounce along in races across that same stretch, and the Broadstairs Water Gala – a day of activity centred around Viking Bay and culminating with fireworks over the sea in July.

So Coastal Explorers packs come on top of what is already a very varied set of holiday activity options here on the tip of East Kent. They cost just £5 to hire and come filled with equipment and information to set you up for some thoroughly engaging exploration of Thanet’s coastal heritage and nature. Learn how you can make a sundial and navigate with a compass, or use the marine identification gear and you’ll be a real rocks and shore researcher!

Everything you will need is in the pack which contains enough resources for at least half a day of fun and adventurous exploration with your family or group. They are suitable for all ages and abilities.

All you need is a crisp fiver and proof of ID. Pick up your pack from the following places:

Margate – Thanet Visitor Information Centre, Stone Pier. CT9 1JD
Broadstairs – Lillyputt Minigolf, Victoria Parade. CT10 1QL
Ramsgate – Visitor Information Centre, Harbour Parade. CT11 8LP

These exclusive (to Thanet) packs are expected be available for hire from the end of May 2017.

Contact Thanet Visitor Information Centre on 01843 577577 or email  visitorinformation@thanet.gov.uk  for info

Search and post on social media with the #CoastalExplorers hashtag to join in the conversation about what your fellow explorers will discover in Thanet this summer and share your own adventure with the world!

When you come and stay in one of our holiday lets in Broadstairs we want you to have the best seaside holiday of your life. So we hope that this article and the others on our blog will assist you to do just that!