Ainsdale Beach — Attraction in Sefton

Been to Ainsdale beach twice now. Once in late August 2022 and July 13th 2025.

The good:

Nice, clean beach with a reasonably warm, clean sea. Parking for 100s of cars on the beach costing £10 each (contactless or cash). RNLI watching from Ford Rangers & quad bikes. Sea shelves slowly so you can go a long way out (100 metres) and the water is only at waist level.

The bad/downright irritating

Impossible to find the gate opening time to allow your car on to the beach (it's a big secret - Sefton Council won't tell you and the public won't tell you on review sites, either). We arrived at 8am after a 50-mile drive . . . . took until 09:30 (13th July 2025) before they allowed anyone in a car on the beach. Pain in the backside when you have 3 young kids desperate to go in the sea.

In 2022 we parked on the beach and spent the day with friends absolutely plagued by wasps every second we were there. I had to have my lunch about 100 metres into the sea to avoid them. It was a nightmare, although we never got stung.

In 2025, we were hoping for a wasp-less day. Mostly, it was. However, there was no shortage of black flies that made your skin itchy. They looked like midges and swarmed the car the moment we parked. This was quickly followed by never-ending hover flies, more bees than wasps landing on us, no shortage of butterflies and swarms of ladybirds. Every 5 seconds there was something crawling over you or your food.

The only toilet block was about 700 yards from where we parked (I know we could have parked closer but wanted a quieter location away from the entrance).

Something to note:

At low tide the sea is a very long walk from where you park. Once you set your stuff up about 50m from the sea you'll soon notice how quickly the tide comes in (we have 3 small children who love being in the water, so need to be close to them). Every 15 mins you end up moving everything (for us this was from 10am to 13:30 - it's a lot of moves) . . . . until eventually you end up near your car again.

Bottom line:

Lovely beach and sea that's handy for anyone living in the northwest. Unfortunately, for families with young kids, it's ruined by moving all your stuff every 15 mins for a fast-moving tide . . . .you just cannot relax and have fun . . . . . and the plagues of insects are relentless, annoying you and your family ALL day.

FYI we've been to loads of UK beaches and suffered none of the above. Just thought we'd give Ainsdale another try just in case it was “bad luck” that we had in 2022.

Sadly, won't...

One of the best beaches to visit in the north west. Come here early and don't pay £10 to park on the beach as that's daylight robbery, instead, just before you get to the beach turn left and follow the road down and there's free parking there. I have found crabs here in the small deposits of water left after the tide went out, small shrimps and flat fish are in the water too. The beach isn't ruined by oil, vast amounts of dunes to explore and lifeguards around for peace of mind. Lots of dog walkers and it's great for kids too, bring all your beach gear and pitch up a tent for shade as you might spend a few hours here. During the day, the tide can go out quite far so be prepared to walk a mile or two to reach the sea. Kiting is very popular here as well as boating, if you come in May it's very breezy but perfect warm weather to cool off afterwards. There are toilet facilities at the entrance, open during the season and free to use. On a clear day, you can see Blackpool tower in the distance and the Welsh mountains with the odd ferry added...

Very long wait to get to both of the different parkings at the beach. If you're going, make sure you're prepared to chill in heavy traffic for a while. At the beach car park, there's only one small building for showers or the toilet, where the queues are also very long. There's not that much problems with getting out, Just getting in is a bit difficult- due to high traffic jams- going towards to direction of the beach. However, it's worth it. The beach is beautiful. You can have a fun day with family out and even bring your dogs or horses. There's food at the beach- food trucks as well as ice cream trucks. However also long lines. There's also a beautiful forest, where you can take a casual stroll and enjoy nature. Overall, I would definitely recommend this beach though. The long wait is obviously due to the beach being very popular and depending on where you are, the drive to the...