The soft-sand northern end of Studland's beaches, where the dunes begin by the Sandbanks chain ferry, looking across to Old Harry Rocks
This is where the long run of Studland sand starts. Shell Bay sits at the mouth of Poole Harbour in Dorset, a stretch of pale soft sand backed by dunes and heath that the National Trust looks after as part of the wider Studland estate. The chain ferry from Sandbanks crosses the harbour entrance right at the northern tip, so plenty of people arrive that way; behind the beach the sand gives way to the heathland of Purbeck Heaths, and one section of Studland is a long-established naturist beach. The water is calm and shallow inside the bay, which suits families and paddlers, and the South West Coast Path runs the length of the sand towards the chalk stacks of Old Harry Rocks to the south. Currents run hard in the harbour channel by the ferry, so it’s not the spot for swimming out.
