9 Best Activities In Clacton-on-Sea

Clacton Beach, Martello Bay Beach and Jaywick Beach all appear on this list, and the choice usually comes down to how busy you want it and where you can leave the car. All three are outdoors, so tide and weather decide the day far more than any feature of the beach itself. Take a windbreak and something to do when the novelty of sand wears off, which it will.

Clacton Pier offers shelter as well as open air, which makes it the most weather-proof thing on this page. It is also, like every pier, designed from end to end to test a child's self-control and a parent's patience. Agree the ground rules before you walk on rather than negotiating halfway down. Clacton Pavilion is the other listing of that type if you want more of the same.

Hasty’s Adventure Farm is the animal option here, recorded as an open-air site, which makes it a fair-weather choice rather than a rainy-day rescue. Farms tend to work across a wider age range than almost anything else, since a toddler and a nine-year-old will both find something worth doing. That makes it useful when you are trying to please a group that cannot agree on anything.

Only three Clacton entries offer any shelter at all, so you are choosing from a short list. Robbie Rascal Party and Play Centre is the one built for it and works best for primary-age children and below. Clacton Pier and Clacton Pavilion are each part-covered, which can be enough to see out a shower. Beyond those, a properly wet day here means driving somewhere else.