Dawlish Warren to Ladram Bay: South West Coast Path Day 42 Guide

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If I’d been in any doubt that autumn was well on the way, those doubts disappeared this morning: it’s the first time I’ve been cold while packing away my tent all trip. Clear skies meant the temperature plummeted overnight: I was fine in my tent and cozy quilt, less so once I got out of them!

I’d hoped to get a coffee from the van at the campsite before I left, but dawdle as I might, it stayed firmly closed. Eventually I gave up and wandered back towards the centre of Dawlish Warren, trying not to get taken out by speeding cyclists along the way.

There was a triathlon in town today and it was already well underway, with marshals, competitors, and spectators all filling the streets. The path out of town coincided with the route for a long way, so after grabbing a breakfast sandwich from a small supermarket on the way, I got to avoid lycra-clad cyclists on narrow roads for three-quarters of a mile.

If only I’d spotted the sign near Dawlish Sands Holiday Park pointing to the footpath on the other side of the hedge, life would have been a little less perilous.

Realising my mistake where the path crossed back across the road, the walking become less hair-raising once I got onto the proper footpath. Funny that. It continued on beside the road for another mile and a half of flat, easy walking, around the edge of Cockwood and through a small park before arriving beside the train station at Starcross.

That’s also where the ferry across to Exmouth departs, but since I still had half an hour to kill, I kept going to the coffee kiosk just up the road before doubling back to wait for the first boat of the day. Most of that time may or may not have been spent befriending the owner’s dog.

The highlight of the short trip across the estuary was seeing a seal basking on a pontoon in the middle of the channel. Apparently he or she is there pretty often, so who knows, you might get to admire it on your way across as well.

I didn’t know anything about Exmouth before I got there, but I was immediately impressed by its beach. A wide golden-sand beach stretched off into the distance for the better part of two miles, and even on what was still a fairly chilly morning, people were starting to set themselves up on it for the day.

Much and all as I’d loved to have joined them, I had more pressing, and definitely more boring, things on my mind. Exmouth was the best place around here to replace a few bits and pieces, from shower gel and snacks to the rubber tips on my hiking poles. I’d worn through the bottom of both of them over the last 500 miles or so, and the clacking of metal on pavement was starting to do my head in.

Hint: if you find yourself in the same boat, don’t buy replacement tips from Mountain Warehouse. They’re trash; I wore through one of them three days later.

After a breakfast bap that promised a lot but didn’t really deliver at Bumble and Bee, I returned to the esplanade and started my long stroll towards Rodney Point at the far end. Most days I don’t love miles of walking on pavement, but today was different: beside a beach, in the sun, on a flat and easy path, turned out to be just what I was after.

Leaving the beach via zig-zagging steps up onto the cliff, the path changed back to dirt as it led towards the large triangular sculpture at Orcombe Point. It was a popular spot, with lots of other people out for a walk in the sunshine: as I passed an older couple, the guy looked me up and down and suddenly broke into a jog to catch me up.

“Hey! Are you walking the whole path?”, he asked. Apparently my general air of sweat and weariness had given me away. When I said I was, he got even more excited. “Did you stay at Henry’s Campsite back in Lizard??”

My new friend just about exploded with joy when I told him that not only had I stayed there, it was my favourite campsite on the entire Coast Path.

“My brother runs it! Our dad is Henry!”

I have to say that particular coincidence wasn’t on my bingo card when I woke up this morning.

From Orcombe Point the path continued above the appropriately-named Sandy Bay, descending slightly before cutting across the headland at Straight Point and starting the only real climb of the day.

This is where the Jurassic Coast begins, and the crumbling red cliffs that define this part of the country were already clearly visible up ahead. Admittedly it would have been a slightly more attractive view without the vast caravan park in front of it, but still, I was really enjoying the vista, and today’s walking in general.

Passing by the caravan park took a while, with the path slowly rising the entire time. The climb topped out at an absolutely perfect viewpoint about 1 ¼ miles from Start Point; even though I didn’t need to eat, I pulled out a protein bar and water just as an excuse to sit and admire the Devon countryside.

There’d been a hell of a lot of places with great views over the last six weeks, but this was on the shortlist for the best of them.

Finally dragging myself onward, I started trotting down the other side of the hill towards Budleigh Salterton. The walk down was at least as enjoyable as the one to get up there, on a narrow dirt trail through the undergrowth, and it felt like no time at all until I’d passed Knowle Cove and found myself back at sea level on the outskirts of town.

It looked like a charming little town as I passed through, even though the clouds were starting to get a little thicker and the blue sky a little harder to find. That’s all the justification I needed to take a break, ducking down a lane beside the promenade for a better-than-normal vegan cake and a completely-normal can of Coke at The Cosy Teapot.

Long walks like these are the only time I ever drink Coke, especially the full-sugar version. I justify it by telling myself my body needs all the calories it can get, although I suspect my dentist might have some opinions about that. Hopefully she’s not reading this.

Cracking on along the beach under increasingly overcast skies, it really looked like I was about to get rained on as I turned inland for a big loop around the Otter estuary. It’s a solid mile and a half up one side of the river, over the small bridge, and back down the other side, and while it’s easy and attractive walking through the nature reserve, it still felt like a long way to detour!

That rain I’d been eying up never materialised, thank God, and the thick clouds even started to break up a bit as I walked through large grassy fields on the other side of the river.

The path rejoined the cliffs at the coast with a small climb up the hill, but even though there was a bit of up and down after that, it was still very easy going compared to almost any other day on the Coast Path.

Passing above Philip’s Cove and an old brick observation building at Brandy Head, I started to think about where I’d try to finish up tonight. There was a large holiday park at Ladram Bay just up ahead, although I had no idea if I could stay there or what they’d charge for it; after that, it was several miles of strenuous walking to the next campsite.

The path runs through the front of the holiday park, and by the time I got there, my decision had been made. I hadn’t stayed anywhere this large or family-friendly on the entire path, but didn’t have the time or motivation to keep going any further, so in I went.

In the end, it turned out to be a perfectly acceptable place to spend the night. Expensive, sure (at £20, a new record for the second day in a row), but at least that was a discount on the posted rate, and I didn’t even have to ask for it.

Directed to a small strip of terraced grass, I pitched up beside a couple of tents occupied by a group of mates on their annual holiday, and after chatting to them about nothing in particular for a while, headed off to find dinner.

Being a Sunday, the restaurant was doing a carvery: while it was by no means the best roast dinner I’ve had in my life, it was cheap, tasty, and filled me up. No complaints.

Forgoing the bingo about to start nearby, I headed back to the tent. I’d been a bit worried about noise levels staying somewhere this big, but given how many caravans and campervans there were stretched out all around me, it really wasn’t too bad after dark.

Drifting off to sleep after what had turned out to be a pretty easy day in the end, I suddenly realised that if all went according to plan, I probably had only a week left on the Coast Path. That seemed like both quite a while and also no time at all: the weather would probably determine which of those it turned out to be!

Planning

Started at: Leadstone Camping (0.6 miles/0.9km off-trail)

Finished at: Ladram Bay Holiday Park (on-trail)

Given that this large holiday park wasn’t the kind of place I’d usually go for and was more expensive than anywhere else I’d stayed so far, it turned out to be a pretty good spot to spend the night. Helped, of course, by the fact there are no other campsites nearby anyway!

It has all the facilities you’d expect from a family-focused site like this: gym, swimming pool, amusement arcade, and all the rest. I used none of them except the restaurant, which had zero ambience but served up a decent carvery at a good price. There’s also a takeaway store, a pretty big camp shop, and a bar and beach shack onsite.

I was offered a discounted rate at reception (£20) without asking for it, and directed to a terraced, flat strip of grass with a few other tents on it. It was a bit of a walk to the showers and toilets, but that’d be true for a lot of the site: it’s just a big place! The facilities were modern, worked well, and were cleaned regularly.

There was also a laundry room with accessible power sockets and a chair, so I could sit there for a while and charge my devices: given the sheer number of people around, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to leave them there unattended.

Staying towards the end of September, the holiday park seemed reasonably busy but not full. I’m sure it would be a different story in the middle of August!

Transport and Parking

Public transport is a mixed bag on this section: some parts are easy to get to, while others are far less accessible.

If the Starcross ferry is running (more on that below), you can either walk the easy 2½ mile route to get there from Dawlish Warren, or take the train one stop instead From there, take the ferry across to Exmouth where you’ve got a couple of options.

If you’re looking to get to/from Sandy Bay, the 98A or 99E bus will get you close to the entrance of the large holiday park there: you’ll need to walk through it to get to the Coast Path.

For Budleigh Salterton, take the 157 bus instead; the same bus also runs to Otterton, a 20-minute walk from the reception office of the Ladram Bay holiday park I stayed at, and into Sidmouth as well.

Note that all three buses leave from outside the Savoy Theatre in Exmouth, half a mile from the ferry point. The 98A runs once an hour during the day, Monday through Saturday, and the 99E takes over in the evening and on Sundays and bank holidays, again running hourly.

The 157 runs daily, once an hour with a few extra services in the morning and afternoon to cater to schools and colleges. The only thing to be aware of is that on Sundays and bank holidays, most buses don’t continue beyond Budleigh Salterton.

If the Starcross ferry isn’t running, take the GWR train from Dawlish Warren up to Exeter, cross to the opposite platform, and take another train back down the other side of the river to Exmouth. You can also take the number 2 bus to the outskirts of Exeter and the number 57 bus back to Exmouth, but it takes longer.

If you want to leave a vehicle somewhere and come back to it later in the day, there are plenty of places to do so.

In Dawlish Warren, there are paid long-stay carparks either side of the railway tracks beside the station, and some free on-street parking on side streets. There’s a small amount of free on-street parking in Cockwood and Starcross, as well as two cheap all-day parking lots in Starcross, on New Road and a little way up from the station on the main road.

Exmouth unsurprisingly has many different carparks; there are two opposite each other beside the train station (Estuary and Station carparks) that have reasonable all-day rates. Queens Drive Echelon and Foxholes carparks also have (more expensive) all-day parking: they’re closer to the path but halfway along the beach.

After leaving the beach at Rodney Point, a lack of roads near the path means there’s nowhere to park after that until you get to Budleigh Salterton. There’s a free all-day carpark on Lower Station Road and a paid one beside the beach and skate park, as well as some free on-street parking on roads behind the beach.

There’s another small carpark with all-day parking at Otter Estuary, on South Farm Road a little way along from where the path along the river crosses the bridge to the other side. There’s also a carpark at the holiday park at Ladram Bay, but between March and November it’s restricted to people who are staying there.

River Crossing

There’s one river crossing today, from Starcross to Exmouth across the estuary of the River Exe.

The ferry leaves from beside the train station in Starcross; to get to it, follow the ferry signs from the main road to cross the footbridge over the railway tracks, and then walk to and along the pier.

The ferry operates from mid-April until the end of October, running every day if the weather permits. There will likely be a period around low tide each day where service is suspended: these times are posted on a board at the entrance, or you can call 07934 461672 to confirm. Cancellations are also posted on the company Facebook page.

It leaves Starcross once an hour, starting at 10:10 a.m. and finishing at 5:10 p.m. from June through September, and 4:10 p.m. after that until the end of the season. A single fare costs £6, payable in cash onboard, and the journey across to Exmouth takes about 15 minutes.

If the ferry isn’t running, see the Transport section above for how to get around the river to Exmouth.

Waymarking and Navigation

I had a pretty straightforward time with navigation today, other than completely missing the sign telling me to walk along the footpath and cycleway beside Dawlish Warren Road on the way to Cockwood. Instead I walked along the road, which would have been fine if there wasn’t a triathlon happening at the same time!

The rest of the day was easy enough, with adequate signposting even in Exmouth. It helps that you just walk along the promenade the whole way, I guess. From there onward it was pretty much just a single track beside the coast, other than the loop around the estuary outside Budleigh Salterton. All of it was pretty well-marked.

I used AllTrails as my main navigation app for the entire South West Coast Path, and it worked well throughout: you can find the short Dawlish Warren to Exmouth section here, and Exmouth to Ladram Bay and onto Sidmouth here. The app is free to use, although I pay a couple of pounds a month for a subscription so I can download maps to my phone in advance.

Phone Service

I had good service with O2 this morning for the walk from Dawlish Warren to Starcross, and while in or close to Exmouth. Signal became more limited after that, both up on the cliffs enroute to Budleigh Salterton and on both sides of the estuary afterwards.

There was sporadic service from there until I got to the holiday park at Ladram Bay, where I had enough signal to do whatever I needed to.

As a backup, I’d also paid a few pounds for a data eSIM from Instabridge that let me swap between all three UK networks, EE, O2, and Vodafone/Three. It worked really well as a fallback option all along the Coast Path: if I didn’t have service with my usual provider, I’d just switch to another. As long as there were any mobile phone towers in range, I’d have service.

Facilities

The campsite I stayed at had a coffee van, but it wasn’t open by the time I left just after 8 a.m. Dawlish Warren was surprisingly lacking in breakfast options, but there were a couple of bakeries on the road out of town, as well as Gerald’s Supermarket where I grabbed a sandwich and drink.

The Anchor Inn in Cockwood opens for food at midday, as do the Driftwood Inn and Atmospheric Railway pubs in Starcross. There’s also a Spar convenience store nearby, as well as the Teign Bean coffee and snack kiosk in the carpark a little way up from the train station. My flat white from there was pretty good, if somewhat expensive.

Exmouth obviously has all the food and drink options you could ask for, both near the Coast Path and in the centre of town. I had high hopes for my breakfast at Bumble and Bee but in the end it was just ok; other people seemed happy with their meal, though, so maybe it was just an off day.

It has a sister kiosk, Bumble and Sea, at the end of the beach at Rodney Point, and there’s a cafe in the holiday park at Sandy Bay that’s not far from the path. Budleigh Salterton has a impressive little cluster of food and drink places beside each other on Fore Street: I enjoyed my cake and drink at The Cosy Teapot, but there are plenty of alternatives nearby.

There’s also a beach cafe just before the path turns inland to go around the estuary, and a restaurant on East Budleigh Road half a mile from the bridge that takes you across the river.

Just after you’ve crossed the bridge, there’s a coffee van and farm shop signposted a short way down the road. After that, you’ll need to survive until Ladram Bay holiday park, which has all the facilities I mentioned earlier.

Accommodation

Campsites on this section are limited, but unlike some recent sections, they do at least exist.

If for some reason you need a campsite in Starcross, check out Hunter’s Lodge Camping, which has reduced rates for walkers. Your best bet near Exmouth is Prattshayes Campsite, just under a mile off the trail up Maer Lane.

There are unfortunately no campsites after that until you get to Ladram Bay where I stayed, and then nothing after that until after Sidmouth. That’s the main reason I stayed where I did!

If you’re not camping, you unsurprisingly have more choices about where to stay. There’s this apartment in Cockwood which is pretty good value, but you’ll find a better range in Exmouth over the other side of the river. Start with either the Exmouth Beach Hotel or Ashton Court Hotel, both of which are close to the path.

This self-contained three bedroom cottage in Budleigh Salterton is very reasonably priced if you’re walking as a family or group, and if you don’t mind the 25-minute walk up from the path, The King’s Arms in Otterton also has some good, affordable rooms.

If you wanted to continue on the extra three undulating miles to Sidmouth, Duke’s Inn is a good option right on the path.