The 10 most common UK Beach foods and where to find them

For such a small country the UK has a surprising range of excellent seafood, it’s just most people either don’t know about it or don’t want to go and forage it for themselves, leaving much more for those that do. You can easily find food on most UK beaches, no matter the season or the weather, there’s always something there. Here’s a list of the 10 most common UK beach foods and where to find them.

1) Mussels

A very common filter-feeding shellfish that can be found clinging to rocks all around the country. All you have to do to find mussels is go to any beach that has rocks that are only exposed at low tide, and they should be covered in mussels.

They have to be submerged for at least half the tidal cycle and also don’t like rocks that move around as they get ground up when the tide comes in, such as on stone and pebble-covered beaches, so head somewhere that has a good amount of set rock that’s covered at low tide, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to find some.

2) Cockles

Cockles normally appear in large beds and can be gathered very easily when you find one, the trick is locating one of these beds as they normally like to hide a few inches below the sand. You can normally find cockles in any area they like to breed, which is on flat sandy beaches that have no free-moving stones and pebbles covering them.

Since they don’t cling to rocks like mussels do and like to move around when the tide comes in, they would get smashed up on any loose stones on the beach. They also don’t like anything too steep as they just roll further into the sea when the tide is moving around and can’t settle somewhere to breed.

Look for beaches that have a good amount of firm wet sand when the tide is out because if the sand is too dry and can’t hold enough water they won’t be able to survive in it.

3) Winkles

These small sea snails appear in rock pools and couldn’t be easier to gather. They aren’t very strong and being snails, can’t move very fast so all you have to do is pick them up. They don’t like to be out of water for long so you’ll always find them submerged when the tide goes out. Apart from rock pools, they can be found anywhere that can hold water, such as large cracks in rocks.

4) Limpets

It’s difficult to go to a rocky beach in the UK and not be able to see a few limpets. They like to cling to things and so can’t be found on the sand, but as long as it’s covered by water at high tide and it’s firm enough, a limpet can live there.

All kinds of permanent rocks, harbor walls, and pier support beams are good spots to find limpets, as very few people bother to gather them. The main thing to keep in mind when gathering these creatures is that if they know you are there, they will clamp down and become very difficult to remove. The best method is to get a strong stick or small rock and firmly smack it on the side of the shell, with the objective being to dislodge them in a single hit before they have the chance to clamp down.

5) Shrimp

The further south you go in the country, the better the shrimping will be. The shrimp you’ll find around the coast and on the beach are normally very small but can be found in huge quantities and easily gathered with the right equipment.

Using a push-net in the sea around the point where the waves start to break for the last time before hitting land is the best place. Normally no more than 20 feet out depending on how steep the beach is will yield good results, just be careful not to go too far out as they prefer staying close to shore for safety against fish.

6) Crab

Crabbing pots are the easiest thing to use as you can just throw them in and come back the next morning, but if you want some instant crab then get yourself a crab line. It isn’t hard to find a shop that sells them near the sea, or you can make one of your own out of a piece of string and some kind of weight.

The best places to try are the deepest areas of water you can reach from the shore. Piers and harbors at hide tide are always good, with harbors normally attracting large spider crabs looking for leftover fish. Just know that any crabs you can reach from shore will normally be quite small so don’t count on getting anything of substantial size without the use of a boat.

7) Seaweed

Most seaweed you can find on the beach is edible, and there are no poisonous species of it so at least you won’t die from eating the wrong sort. It’s found on almost every single UK beach in whatever quantity you like, but before you start gathering buckets of the stuff take a little bit home to try it first as it’s an acquired taste.

The other thing you should know about seaweed is that certain species contain huge amounts of collagen, and when boiling it for the first time can turn the water into what looks like wallpaper paste, so make sure you look up some recipes for the type that grows at your chosen gathering spot.

8) Samphire

This plant is delicious and comes in two different types, rock samphire and marsh samphire. The rock variety can be found at the back of the beach growing out of sandy rock-covered areas and doesn’t often appear in large patches.

The marsh version is the opposite and grows in huge patches, but only appears in the right conditions. The best places to look are estuaries that have marshland along them made of a sand and mud mix, they also prefer brackish water which is when fresh and salt waters meet. If the water is too salty or too fresh it won’t grow very well, so the first mile of an estuary opening is the best place to look.

9) Razor Clams

Look for flat sandy beaches when the tide is at its lowest, the further out you can go the better the chance of finding some. The shells of Razor clams can be found on most beaches but the live ones are only exposed for a very short time at the lowest point of the tide. Be very careful when going after these as the tide has cut me off more than once when searching for these things.

As for gathering, I wouldn’t even bother digging them out as they can dig themselves down very far into the sand, and digging them out could smash them to pieces, not to mention being a huge amount of effort. Grab a bottle of salt and when you find one of their key-shaped hole openings, tip some salt in and wash it down with a little seawater. They should pop up within a couple of minutes at which point you firmly grip the top of the shell and gently pull them out.

10) Fish

Beach food just wouldn’t be complete without the mention of fish, and the ones you can catch from the shore are often the best, with flounder being a personal favorite of mine. Fish can be caught on every single part of the British coast so check your local fishing shops to find what’s normally caught where you are. Just please be responsible and stick to the sizing guidelines.