Cart Gap dog friendly Beach in Norfolk

This beach is between the well known Happisburgh beach to the north and the popular Sea Palling beach to the south, and is kind of a hidden gem. Cart Gap is located at the end of a single-track lane and is a lovely sandy beach.

Distance	Total Time	Difficulty
2.54 km	00:34	Easy

Because of the erosion, the beach has a seawall and is divided by wooden groynes.

The beach is the site of the RNLI Happisburgh Lifeboat Station, as the original station was moved from Happisburgh itself due to coastal erosion.

It was the end of the afternoon, so a short walk for the girls (including the wife), as they love the seaside. You can go as far as you would like in either direction as the sandy beaches stretch for miles.

Close to the car park is the Smallsticks Café which has a good selection of food and drinks. Dogs are allowed in the garden. There are public toilets situated in the car park. 

The Hike

I shouldn’t really call this a hike, as it was more of a gentle and short stroll on the beach. 

We started from the car park (Postcode: NR12 0QL). There is a ramp down to the beach from there, but it was closed when we visited, so we went down the tall grass behind the Happisburgh Coast Watch. It was probably not the best way to get down to the beach but the girls were so excited that we didn’t mind going down that way.

From there we walked south for about one mile, going over the groynes which Gambá loved jumping over. The girls kept running from the beach to the large rocks by the seawall, not being able to decide which side was more interesting. 

There were a few other people walking dogs off-lead but at times it felt like the beach was just ours with no one in sight.

Cart Gap is definitely a beach we intend to go back to and stretch the walk to both Happisburgh and Sea Palling.

Cheers,

Ademar