Despite the name Slapton Sands is a long arc of beach and is in fact largely shingle and pebble. However, this does little to affect its popularity and undeniably pretty scenery. The coastline here has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is also something of a haven for wildlife. The beach is backed by a large freshwater lake, Slapton Ley, which forms an important part of a nature reserve. This is home to many examples of rare flora and fauna.
Slapton Sands is known for being a family-friendly beach with calm waters and plenty of space. This is also a great spot to try water sports such as surfing, windsurfing and canoeing.
Lifeguards operate here in the summer season meaning that you can swim here with full peace of mind. Slapton Sands is a dog-friendly beach and dogs are welcome throughout the year.
The map below shows the locations of the storm overflows that have the potential to impact water quality at this bathing water.
The map shows whether or not a storm overflow is currently active, the time and duration of the last spill at that location, and our investment commitments that are specific to that overflow.
The graphs below show the significant reduction in harmful bacteria in the Environment Agency’s (EA) water samples since the 1990s. E. coli and Intestinal Enterococci exist in all open water - they are found in human and animal poo, and get into the water via sewage spills, road drainage, agricultural livestock, or wildlife and birds. The EA uses the levels of these bacteria to decide whether to award this beach bathing water status.
The 2025-2030 investment programme is currently being scoped out. If you’re a community group or part of a local network and would like to have your say see ‘Your Beach, Your Say, Our Investment’.
The data shown in the table below is the reported annual total spill number for each overflow which has been identified by the EA for this bathing water.
The assignment of an overflow to the bathing water does not always mean an impact will occur, it can be dependent on a number of factors such as tidal state and weather conditions. Sometimes it has been allocated just for investigation purposes and has no impact at all.
All data collected goes through vigorous quality assurance processes before being included in the counts. Sometimes debris can trigger false spills to be recorded, resulting in potentially higher than actual spill numbers.
2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Torcross pumping station storm overflow | 33 | 16 | 58 | 117 |
Torcross pumping station overflow | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
The beach profiles were created in line with information provided by our partners, Environment Agency, RNLI, Keep Britain Tidy, MCS - Beach Guide and British Beaches.