Mudeford Spit

There are very few sandy, dog friendly beaches in this part of the world. Mudeford Spit is one of the few. It's not easy to get there. We parked at Mudeford Quay and then took the ferry over to the Spit. The car park wasn't cheap - £4.30 for 3 hours - and the ferry was £1.50 each way per person for a 5 min hop. Dogs go free. You can also take a tourist train I think from Hengistbury Head - or walk if you're feeling energetic.

The Spit itself is famous for its expensive beach huts and was very busy when we went at the end of July. The beach itself was ok, it is sandy but with a lot of rocks and very busy. Our dog enjoyed swimming although we didn't let him get too far out as it got deep very quickly and there seemed to be a bit of a current.

There's a restaurant there which looked nice (but again expensive and not sure if it's dog friendly) and a small take away place and shop. We had to wait about twenty minutes for the return ferry. I think it's normally shorter than that but one ferry wasn't running. We did have a nice day out, but it was a bit of an effort and rather expensive and there are much better dog friendly beaches elsewhere in the country.