Brighton Beach is shingle, not sand — a fact that surprises some visitors and deters others, but has never stopped Brightonians from treating it as a summer living room. The beach runs for miles in each direction from the piers, with beach bars, cafes, volleyball nets, and deckchair hire all appearing between May and September. The sea is the English Channel, which means it is rarely warm, but it is swimmable from June onwards.
The West Beach, between the two piers and west toward Hove, is the most popular. The shingle here is larger and rounder, good for sitting on with a book. East of the Palace Pier the beach is quieter and the water cleaner; nudist sections begin further east near the Marina. In winter the beach is nearly empty, the Channel grey and choppy, and the seafront has a pleasantly desolate quality that Brighton's summer visitors never see.