Babbacombe & Oddicombe: The Red-Cliff Coves

Two sheltered beaches beneath Devon's famous red cliffs — reached by a century-old funicular, and worth every step of the descent

There is a particular quality of light at Babbacombe Bay that catches first-time visitors off guard. The red Permian sandstone cliffs — some of the most distinctive geology on the English coast — glow amber in afternoon sun, the colour deepening almost to terracotta as the day winds down. Below them, tucked between headlands, the coves of Babbacombe and Oddicombe sit sheltered enough to feel like a private discovery, despite being two of the most beloved spots on the English Riviera.

Both beaches share the same essential character: small, shingle-and-sand, backed by those signature red cliffs, and facing a sea that turns a convincing Mediterranean blue on a clear summer day. They are emphatically not bucket-and-spade beaches in the Paignton mould — there are no amusement arcades here, no candy-floss stalls. Instead you get clean, calm water, a relaxed pace, and the knowledge that getting down here requires just enough effort to keep the crowds honest.

Babbacombe Beach itself sits at the foot of Beach Road, a steep lane that winds down from the clifftop village of Babbacombe. It is the more sheltered of the two, cupped by low headlands on either side, and it draws a loyal crowd of swimmers throughout the warmer months. The water is generally clear — the bay's relative isolation from major river outflows helps — and the snorkelling along the rock edges can be quietly rewarding. A beach café operates in season, and the mood is unhurried in the way that only a cove with a difficult approach can be.

Two sheltered beaches beneath Devon's famous red cliffs — reached by a century-old funicular, and worth every step of the descent

A short walk north along the coastal path brings you to Oddicombe Beach, and this is where the Babbacombe Cliff Railway enters the picture. The Babbacombe Cliff Railway has been lowering visitors down the red cliff face since 1926 — a Victorian-era funicular concept delivered in the early twentieth century, running on a gradient steep enough that the view out over the bay as you descend is genuinely arresting. The journey takes only a couple of minutes, but they are two of the more characterful minutes on the English Riviera.

Oddicombe is slightly wider than its neighbour, with a mix of sand and shingle that reveals more sand at lower tides. There is a beach café here too, and the combination of easy rail access and a little more space means it tends to be the livelier of the pair — though livelier is relative. On a weekday in early September, you might share it with almost nobody.

The swimming is good from both beaches, but Oddicombe in particular has long attracted those who take their sea bathing seriously. The water shelves gradually enough to suit cautious swimmers, and the surrounding headlands cut the fetch on all but the most determined south-easterly swells. Kayakers and paddleboarders appear regularly in summer, and the rocky margins at either end of the beach are worth exploring at low tide.

The clifftop above both beaches — Babbacombe Downs — is worth spending time on in its own right. This long, grassy promenade sits above sheer red drops to the sea, with views north towards the Jurassic Coast and south across the full sweep of Torbay. The Downs have been a destination since the Victorian resort boom, when Torquay's reputation as a health resort drew visitors to exactly this kind of bracing clifftop air. Today they remain one of those reliably lovely stretches of coast that costs nothing to walk and that every resident seems to take entirely for granted.

The village of Babbacombe itself, just inland, has a handful of independent cafés and pubs, and the famous Babbacombe Model Village — a long-running miniature world that tends to delight children and, privately, most adults — sits just off the Downs. The South West Coast Path runs through here, and the section between Babbacombe and Anstey's Cove to the south offers one of the most dramatic short walks on the bay, threading between gorse and cliff-edge scrub with the sea hammering the limestone below.

Come for the swimming, stay for the light. That is roughly the rhythm of a day at the red-cliff coves. Pack something to eat if you want a lazy lunch on the shingle, check the tide times before you head down — low tide gives you considerably more beach — and build in enough time for the climb back up, whether you trust your legs or prefer to ride the railway. Either way, the view from the top is its own reward.

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