Using a wheelchair should never stop someone from enjoying the beauty of Suffolk’s coastline. Our beaches are beautiful with so much to offer, and they’re becoming more and more accessible by the year.
If you want to pack up your WAV and head to the seaside for the day, you may be wondering which beach to head to. In this post, we’ll share some of our favourite wheelchair accessible beaches in Suffolk, with all the details you’ll need to prepare for a full day of sun and fun.
First, let’s talk about wheelchairs on beaches and how to navigate them.
Can wheelchairs go on beaches?
A standard manual or powered wheelchair typically cannot go on beaches. Sand is a difficult surface to navigate, even on foot, and thin or heavy wheels simply sink into it. To combat this, beach wheelchairs were invented, which utilise wide, lightweight, inflated wheels that spread weight and pressure to glide over sand, shingle, and pebbles. This invention was an incredible step forward within the wheelchair community, allowing people to enjoy the beach just like everyone else, as they deserve.
These specialist wheelchairs can be purchased personally, ideal for those who frequently visit beaches, but for the occasional visitor, many beaches have them available for day hire. The following Suffolk beaches all have sand wheelchairs available to hire for free.
Felixstowe Beach
Felixstowe Beach stretches for four miles and consists of sand and shingle, lined with a charming Victorian seafront. It backs straight into the large town, which features all the amenities you could need.
The promenade along the beach is level and concrete, providing a smooth and steady surface for wheelchairs. If you’re planning to spend time on the sand, you can hire a beach wheelchair for free by sending an enquiry to beach.wheelchairs@eastsuffolk.gov.uk. Make sure to do this ahead of your trip to avoid disappointment! Chair hire is seasonal, so you may not be able to hire the wheelchair during winter. To get down to the beach, there is a smooth, recently-built ramp near Martello Park.
Felixstowe is home to the UK’s largest container port, which has proven a huge draw to lovers of cranes, vessels, and large-scale shipping operations. It’s quite hypnotising to watch the port in action! The Landguard viewing area, where you’ll get the best view of port activity, is all on one level and has an accessible cafe and toilets.
There are plenty of car parks in Felixstowe with Blue Badge spaces, including several close to the beach, and many public toilets with accessible facilities. If you require advanced accessible features, Felixstowe has two Changing Places facilities: one in the Crescent Road Car Park and one by Martello Park.
Martello Park is an accessible playground on the seafront, featuring equipment designed to enable inclusive play for all children. The park is home to a splash pad, perfect for hot days if your child isn’t comfortable going into the sea. Next to the park is Sea You Cafe & Restaurant, a new and modern space to enjoy coffee and cake or a full, delicious meal. The restaurant is spacious enough to navigate with a wheelchair, and a wide ramp allows easy entry into the building. Watch the waves from the sunny outer deck.
If you’d like to take a break from the outdoors, head to The Spa Pavilion Theatre on the seafront for a show. There is ramp access, accessible toilet facilities, blue badge parking nearby, and even dedicated wheelchair spaces in the auditorium, which can be booked online.
Lowestoft Beach
Second on our list of accessible beaches in Suffolk is Lowestoft Beach. Featuring two award-winning stretches of beautiful golden sand, a bustling town centre, and plenty of amenities to visit and enjoy, Lowestoft seafront is a must if you’re looking for a wheelchair accessible beach to enjoy for the day.
A recently built boardwalk has greatly improved access to the beach for wheelchair users, providing a steady ramp down to the sand. It can be found south of Claremont Pier. To hire a free beach wheelchair for the day and enjoy the sand and sea, contact the Lowestoft Beach Office by calling 01502 586167 or emailing lowestoft.beach@eastsuffolk.gov.uk – make sure you do this ahead of time to book the chair.
The summer of 2026 is set to see the opening of the Jubilee Rise complex. This will house a two-storey cafe and restaurant right on the sand with incredible panoramic views of the beach and ocean, as well as concession stands, public toilets, and accessible Changing Places facilities. The ground floor will be easily accessed via a ramp, and a lift will take wheelchair users between floors so they can enjoy the entire complex with ease.
Along the seafront are quintessential English beach huts, several of which are wheelchair accessible and can be hired for the day. Some of these connect, making it possible to adapt them to provide extra space where necessary. These huts are a very short distance from the boardwalk to the beach, so you won’t need to move far from the hut to access the sand and sea.
Southwold Beach
A proper example of a British seaside town, Southwold is famous for its picturesque scenery and seafront. It’s a very special place and much loved across Suffolk and beyond – frequently at the top of everyone’s list for an English staycation. The charming and colourful beach huts, golden sand, and long pleasure pier stretching into the ocean draw in locals and visitors alike all year round.
There is a convenient ramp that allows wheelchair users to get down to Southwold’s sandy beach with ease. Southwold also has beach wheelchairs to ensure everyone can enjoy the beach, which can be booked in advance by sending an enquiry to beach.wheelchairs@eastsuffolk.gov.uk. Hiring chairs at Southwold is seasonal, so be aware that you may not be able to hire a wheelchair during winter.
The safest place to park WAVs in Southwold is the car park by Southwold Pier. It has 16 disabled driver spaces, which are wider for easier access, as well as accessible toilets. All other car parks in Southwold are unlined, so while you could park your WAV there, it’s not guaranteed that someone won’t park too close to your vehicle and restrict your access.
Southwold Pier is fully wheelchair accessible, ensuring everyone can enjoy its stunning ocean views, amusements, shops, restaurants, and cafes. This pier is a real classic, proving that seaside piers are still popular today. A long ramp, specifically designed for wheelchair users, leads you onto the pier itself, which is fully step-free.
Visit East Anglia’s accessible beaches in a WAV fit for your needs
For those with limited mobility or disabilities, planning a beach day can feel out of reach. Thanks to Suffolk’s continuing efforts to improve accessibility to its coast, more beaches are becoming inclusive and available to all who want to enjoy them. We hope that one day soon, every spot along our beautiful coastline will be wheelchair accessible. For now, Felixstowe, Lowestoft, Southwold, and others make for fantastic beach days for wheelchair users.
If you’re in the market to purchase a wheelchair accessible vehicle to facilitate these future beach trips, we can help. With our large stock of new and used WAVs available to visit, try, and buy, we’re confident we’ve got the right vehicle for you and your needs, whether that’s space for a wheelchair passenger to sit up front or room in the back to lock a wheelchair between the back seats. Get in touch, or visit us at our Ipswich showroom to explore our range.