The Isle of Wight has signed up to a smartphone app providing beachgoers with useful local information, including real-time updates on which areas are most crowded.
From today (Tuesday), the free Beach Check UK app will show real-time information for Ryde, Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor, with plans to extend the coverage to other Island beaches.
Use the app to check beaches
The app, available for Apple or Android devices, allows users to check individual beaches or see a map showing red (crowded), amber (less congested) and green (uncongested) beaches.
The app was first launched in July 2020 by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council to help beachgoers comply with social distancing after visitors flocked to the coast in their thousands. To date, it has had more than 81,000 downloads.
Search out less crowded beaches
With Covid still circulating in the community, the app allows visitors to choose less populated zones or beaches with lesser crowding. Its maps can also pinpoint public toilets, parking spaces, and even pubs and restaurants and places of interest.
The Isle of Wight Council worked closely with the app’s developers, National Coastal Tourism Academy, to ensure some of the Island’s most popular resorts were featured in the latest edition.
Cllr Jonathan Bacon, Cabinet member for beaches, said,
“We’re delighted to join this exciting new initiative. We’re expecting lots of visitors this summer and we want everyone to enjoy our beaches and to do so safely.
“Through Beach Check UK, people will be able to see how busy our beaches are in real-time.
“Residents and visitors can use that information to help them choose whether to go to those beaches or visit others along the Island’s coastline.”
Traffic light system
Working on a traffic light system that uses sophisticated technology and on-the-ground authorised users who assign a colour code to beaches according to the number of visitors and car park spaces, the app aims to reduce overcrowding at popular coastal areas and encourage distancing.
Myles: A great benefit to the Island’s many visitors
Will Myles, managing director of Visit Isle of Wight, said,
“The Beach Check app will be a great benefit to the Island’s many visitors — and to the businesses that operate close to them, providing beachgoers with helpful information.
“This is the result of the work of the National Coastal Tourism Academy and Isle of Wight Council in pulling this together.
“With so many beautiful beaches to choose from, the Beach Check app will be of value to visitors and residents alike!”
For more information, visit the England’s Coast Website.
News shared by Isle of Wight council press office, in their own words. Ed
Image: © Visit Isle of Wight
