Family Friendly Beach and Riverside Playgrounds in Essex - Day trips to the Seaside in Essex
- Essex Parks
- Jun 20
- 6 min read
Family Friendly Beach and Riverside Playground Guide
Essex has over 350 miles of beautiful coastline. In Essex you can find a mix of sandy and stony beaches. There are fantastic family friendly beaches in Essex. Kids will love building sandcastles, swimming and collecting beach treasures (including Fossil hunting!). There are also great splashing opportunities at many riverside locations in Essex!
For us, a family day at the beach is massively improved by a beach playground! We have great playgrounds close to the beach and rivers in Essex!
The Parks of Essex suggestions of beach and riverside playgrounds make for a great free day out in Essex! Here we have tonnes of inspiration for your next family friendly seaside day trip in Essex! From Walton-on-the-Naze to Southend-on-Sea and Brightlingsea to Mersea Island, we have covered beach play areas across Essex
Each Playground has it's own dedicated post with further information such as parking and a facilities guide!
This post features the following beach and riverside playgrounds in Essex (click to scroll to the playground):
📍 The Bath House Meadow Playground, Walton on the Naze, CO14 8PZ
We love a day trip to Walton-on-the-Naze, where you can find beautiful, sandy beaches. The beach is perfect for sandcastles. The beach front is also very wide, so there is plenty of room, even in the busy summer holidays.
There is a great beach playground in Walton-on-the-Naze (in fact it's our favourite beach playground!). If you are visiting Walton-on-the-Naze I highly recommend a playground stop at The Bath House Meadow Playground.
The Bath Meadow Playground in Walton-on-the-Naze has so much to offer; slides at different levels, swings, long swings, a trampoline, sand pit and sand digger and even a surf board! There is also winding musical equipment, mirrors and a musical ship wheel. This unique, beach/pirate themed playground is also accessible!
You can also find a beach at The Naze. The beach is stony and there is no play area, but it is still worth a visit. There is plenty of space for flying kites and it is the best place to hunt fossils in Essex!
📍Promenade Park, Park Drive, Maldon, CM9 5JQ
This popular river side park is situated on the river Blackwater. Promenade Park has something for everyone. The park hosts a sandpit, pirate themed playground, petting zoo, adventure golf, skateboard park, BMX track, model boating lake and an amazing seasonal splash park. The are so many attractions!
There are two, separate play areas at Promenade Park - the Secret Garden play area and the Valley play area. The Valley play area is closest to the riverside with lovely views across the water.
Valley Playground - the main focus of the Valley play area at Prom Park is the large boat themed apparatus. The ship has a variety of different entrance climbs to suit all ages. The ship also has a number of slides and ground level interactive play. Elsewhere in the playground there is also an in floor trampoline, swings and a zipwire.
There is also an accessible play area - The Secret Garden Play Area. The playground contains the following play equipment; ramp climbing frame, roundabout, floor level trampoline, swings (not accessible), large seesaw. Read More about Promenade Park...
📍St Georges Play Area, Heybridge Basin, Maldon, CM9 4SE
Heybridge Basin is perfect for family friendly canal side walks. There is also a great little play area, reached via a short walk along the seawall.
The small, enclosed playground has a climbing frame with slide, swings, climbing equipment, a roundabout, spinning equipment, climbing rope pyramid and ride on equipment. There are playing fields surrounding the play area and there are also more wooden climbing equipment.
Between the car park and playground there are plenty of places to stop for food and drinks.
📍Victoria Esplanade, West Mersea, Colchester, CO5 8BH
We love a Mersea Island Day Trip! This quaint island is very family friendly. There are plenty of things to do on Mersea Island with kids. Check out our full guide to a great day trip to Mersea Island with kids! You will find out recommendations for family friendly restaurants, pubs and pay areas on Mersea Island.
This lovely, bright coloured, playground overlooks the beautiful beach huts on Mersea Island, a must visit!
The playground is small but well located. It is most suitable for smaller children, up to secondary age. There are climbing frames, a slide, climb on boat, ride on toys and a roundabout. The playground is enclosed. Read More about Victoria Esplanade Play Area...
📍Riverside Park, Millfields, Burnham-on-Crouch, CM0 8HS
A visit to Burnham-on-Crouch is a great family friendly day out in Essex. There are beautiful riverside walks along the River Crouch at Riverside Park. It is lovely to pass the beautiful boats quayside and at Burnham-on-Sea Marina. Did you know you can take the Burnham Ferry over to Wallasea Island during the Spring/Summer season? The departure spot is only a leisurely 10 minute walk away.
There are plenty of things for children to do in Burnham-on-Crouch including several beach themed play areas.
An additional play area was added to the Riverside Park play area in 2024. Riverside Park now has three play areas. The play areas are very close to each other and have play equipment to suit all ages.
📍 Thorney Bay Beach, Canvey Island, SS8 0AU
Thorney Bay beach is a small, sandy beach cove area. There is a pathway surrounding the cove, making it accessible and buggy friendly. There are plenty of benches and picnic tables. The beach faces onto the Thames Estuary. Its a brilliant spot for ship spotting.
Next to the beach is a large flat grassy area with a playground. I love a beach playground, perfect for when everyone has had enough of the sand.
The playground has a loose ship theme. There are climbing frames for toddlers through to teens, baby swings, a small nest swing, a zipwire, seesaws and climbing boulder rocks. Read More about Thorney Bay Playground...
📍Three Shells Beach, Western Esplanade, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1EE
This beachside playground is located close to Southend's top attractions including Southend Pier (the longest Pier in Europe) and Adventure Island. The Three Shells Lagoon is very family friendly. The lagoon is always filled with water for splashing and the beach is sandy.
There is a small playground most suitable for toddlers and preschoolers. There are two pieces of play equipment - a climbing frame and sand chute equipment. There are toilets and showers close by. There are several beach front food stalls selling traditional seaside food. Read More about Three Shells Beach Playground...
📍Grays Beach Riverside Park, Thames Road, Grays, RM17 6HF
Grays beach park has a large playground with a sand pit in the middle. The park also has mini golf and a splash pad (seasonal).There is also a skate ramp, ball court and parkour area very close by. You can walk along the Thames Estuary and there
are also fields with lots of open space.
The large, pirate ship climbing structure is suitable for toddlers to teenagers. On the ground level there are lots of puddles, little seats and boxes to pour and collect sand. There are several different rope climbs, bridges and steps to get up to slide level. There are also several
slides.
📍Shoebury Common Playground, Shoeburyness, SS3 9HQ
This playground is located close to the beach and Thorpe Bay's beautiful beach huts. The beach here is a mix of sand and pebbles. The playground has a nautical theme, there are boats, ship climbing frames and sea creature climb on equipment. There are a variety of swings, interesting sensory equipment and games. The playground is enclosed and there are plenty of picnic benches inside the playground. There is lots of open space around the playground and also outdoor gym equipment. Read More about Shoebury Common Playground...
📍Cudmore Grove Country Park, Broman's Lane, East Mersea, CO5 8UE
This beautiful country park has so much to offer; nature walks, coastal exploration, a great adventure playground and trails. Children will love the imaginative playground and searching for shells and fossils on the beach. There are also a bird hides for keen wildlife spotters.
📍 Pawsons Playground, Brightlingsea, CO7 0HH
This brightly coloured playground can be found beach side at Brightlingsea beach. Brightlingsea Beach is a mix of sand and shingle. The beach can be found where the River Colne meets the sea.
This playground has a strong beach/nautical themed. Equipment includes two ship climbing frames, climb-on equipment, baby swings, swings and a nest swing and a zipwire. The playground is fenced off and there are benches. The playground is suitable for toddlers to teenagers.
Don't forget to check the Park Directory for more park inspiration -
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