Swanage Beach & Bay - Dorset, UK

Turquoise water, golden sand, and the chalk headland of Ballard Down closing off the bay to the north - Swanage on a clear morning looks more Mediterranean than Dorset. The camera is mounted at Swanage Bay Sauna on Shore Road, looking east across the full arc of the bay with Old Harry Rocks just visible at the tip of the headland on clear days.

Swanage sits at the southern end of the Isle of Purbeck, tucked into a sheltered bay that keeps it noticeably calmer than the exposed coastline either side. The town is the southern terminus of the Swanage Railway, a heritage steam line that runs north through the Purbeck Hills to Corfe Castle and Wareham.

The bay is popular for swimming, kayaking, and wild swimming year-round, and Swanage Bay Sauna adds a distinctly Scandinavian touch to the seafront, offering heat therapy with floor-to-ceiling bay views before a plunge straight into the sea.

Did You Know? Old Harry Rocks, the chalk sea stacks visible at the northern tip of Swanage Bay, mark the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are the remains of a chalk ridge that once connected Dorset to the Needles on the Isle of Wight before the sea broke through thousands of years ago.

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