Now the weather is starting to become a little bit more endurable and the evenings are becoming gradually lighter, a walk on the beach can be a great way to clear your head and enjoy some stunning scenery. 

We've compiled a list of some beautiful beaches and coves that, perhaps, get forgotten about in the competition against Sandbanks and Bournemouth beaches. 

Bournemouth Echo: marine call up: Kimmeridge Bay

Kimmeridge Bay

The beach is part of the Jurassic Coast and its geology is world-renowned. Rocky shale and comentstone reefs make the area a key habitat and the bay is a designated Marine Nature Reserve.

Although there are no sandy beaches, the sheltered bay is good for swimming, diving, surfing and windsurfing. Large ledges act as natural jetties for wandering along to explore marine wildlife. It is one of the best places in the country to go rock pooling.

Also, did you know the name Kimmeridgian is used around the world to describe rocks the same age as those at Kimmeridge, which are approximately 150 million years old?

​Rockley Sands 

This is a small sandy beach with only 150 metres of beachfront and great views of the harbour and the Purbeck. It’s located in Hamworthy off Napier Road and Ham Common nature reserve is nearby.

The beach has received the Environmental Campaign Seaside Award for a rural beach since 2001.

Bournemouth Echo: Highcliff Castle

Highcliffe Castle

The beach, between Christchurch and Highcliffe, is reached via a wheelchair-friendly slope from the grounds of Highcliffe Castle, a former 18th century mansion home of the Earl of Bute.

The best features of this sandy and shingle beach is its safe, clean bathing water and views to the Isle of Wight.

Friars Cliff

A sand and shingle beach with safe swimming and uninterrupted views across Christchurch Bay to the Isle of Wight. You can find it signposted from the A337 Lymington Road and there is wheelchair access to the promenade at both the eastern and western end.

Other points of interest include a monument to the experimental radar research station at the top of the cliff, which was located at the Steamer Point clifftop. Some of the buildings now house a coastguard training school and the clifftop woodland is a nature reserve.

Bournemouth Echo: Fisherman's Walk beach

Fisherman’s Walk

A stretch of beach between Southbourne and Boscombe that is much enjoyed by locals. It is arguably the best of the beaches that collectively make up the Bournemouth beaches and you can reach it from the Southbourne Overcliff Drive.

The beach has high standards of cleanliness and water quality and it has won a Blue Flag Award as a result. It’s somewhat quieter than the main Bournemouth beaches of East Cliff and West Cliff and there is a viewing area at the top of the cliff which allows a spectacular vista from Poole Harbour entrance round to Hengistbury Head and the Isle of Wight.

Mudeford Sandbank

This sandspit and beach is on the Christchurch Harbour shore of Hengistbury Head. Access is either by land train from the Hengistbury Head car park or by ferry from either Mudeford or Christchurch Quays.

The collection of 350 wooden beach chalets bordering the beach may look like a shanty town but the huts are in great demand and can fetch up to £100,000 on the rare occasions when one comes up for sale.

Bournemouth Echo: We're celebrating Dorset and want pictures of your favourite spot in our beautiful county!

Chapmans Pool

This small cove in Worth Matravers is positioned along the Purbeck coast and it is a remote location best known for its fossil hunting opportunities.

The dark cliff face surrounding the beach has been exposed by millions of years of erosion and is quite different from the rocky coastline of Winspit. This section of Worth is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage site and a variety of discoveries are on display at the local Worth Matravers Pub.

Chapmans Pool is not accessible by car and walking routes are unsuitable for families with pushchairs. You can walk along the shoreline but will need to navigate and climb over large boulders when exiting the cove by the wooden fishing huts.

Flaghead Chine

Adjacent to Canford Cliffs Chine, Flaghead is a quieter beach than the neighbouring Shore Road and Sandbanks but just as beautiful with a wide sandy beach which leads into clean, shallow waters. The beach gradually slopes away, ensuring it is safe for even the smallest of children and there are very good facilities on the promenade.