COASTAL ACTIVITIES
Learn to sail, or drive a powerboat, Norfolk
The natural harbours, saltmarshes and creeks of the north Norfolk coast are ideal for messing about in boats. In the villages on the Wash north of King's Lynn, you can learn to sail or drive a powerboat at Sailcraft Sea School in Brancaster or Norfolk Etc in Blakeney Harbour.
• Sailcraft (01485 210236, sailcraft.co.uk); two-hour introduction to dinghy sailing for eight-year-olds and over, £110. Norfolk Etc (01263 740704, norfolketc.co.uk); 90-minute skippered Powerboat Experience, £145
Sea safaris nationwide
August is a good time to see minke whales, basking sharks, harbour porpoises, dolphins and seals in the west of Scotland, along with golden eagles and rare white-tailed sea eagles.
• Sealife Surveys Scotland, Tobermory, Isle of Mull (01688 302916, sealifesurveys.com); two-hour eco-cruises: adults £15, children £12, family £50. Sea.fari Adventures (Skye), Isle of Skye (01471 833316, whalespotting.co.uk); two-hour cruise, adults £27, under-15s £21, family £86
Get on your bike, nationwide
A trip on two wheels is a great way to explore our coastline, with more cycle-friendly routes opening up all the time. Try the Camel Trail in Cornwall – an easygoing 18-mile, largely traffic-free, cycleway through some of the most interesting countryside in the south-west. Hire bikes at the start in Padstow. The National Cycle Network on Sustrans is generally a mine of info.
• Trail Bike Hire, Unit 6, South Quay, Padstow, Cornwall (01841 532594, trailbikehire.co.uk); from £10 a day. Cycle Routes UK (cycle-route.com), Sustrans (sustrans.org.uk)
Birdwatching, Bridlington Bay, Yorkshire
In late August and September, thousands of migrating seabirds pass over the North Sea. Book an RSPB cruise from Bridlington North Pier and you'll have experts on hand to help you tell your auks from your sooty shearwaters. Armed with this knowledge, visit the Bempton Cliffs reserve, where, for close encounters of the bird kind, there's a feeding station.
• Shearwater and skua cruises (01262 850959, RSPB.org.uk/events) last three and a half hours; adults £15, under-14s £7.50, family £37.50. Bempton Cliffs reserve (01262 851179, rspb.org.uk)
SEASIDE EVENTS
The 2010 Worthing International Birdman, East Sussex
Each year, teams of amateur engineers, enthusiasts and the unhinged throw themselves and their human-powered flying machines off Worthing Pier to see how far they get – in front of thousands of spectators. It's all for charity, with a £30,000 prize fund.
• 01903 203252, worthingbirdman.co.uk; free, 14 and 15 August
See an airshow, nationwide
Air displays are noisy, exciting and often by the sea. And they're usually free. Try Lowestoft (12 and 13 August), Eastbourne (12-15 August) or Bournemouth (19-22 August).
• airsceneuk.org.uk; bournemouthair.co.uk; lowestoftairfestival.co.uk)
Morelli's Italian Ice-cream Job, Portrush, County Antrim
On 29 August hundreds of classic Minis from all over the world will gather on the Causeway coast. Make your way to the Dunluce Centre for noon where there'll be bouncy castles and trade stalls until 4pm, when a cavalcade will snake its way around the resort. The lovely people at Morelli's in Dunluce Street will be giving out free ice-creams – if you're in the area, sample a Yellow Man sundae at their ice-cream parlour in nearby Portstewart.
• ccminiclub.co.uk. morellisofportstewart.co.uk
Go to a seaside festival, nationwide
Music festivals are now a fixture of the UK summer. Some of this month's offerings include: Folk/roots/blues/jazz: Mull of Kintyre festival (19–22 August, mokfest.com), Campbelltown,Argyll. Whitby Folk Week (21–27, whitbyfolk.co.uk), Yorkshire. Aberjazz (26–30, aberjazz.com), Fishguard, Pembrokeshire. Southsea Folk & Roots festival (27-31, barkingspider.abelgratis.com), Southsea, Hampshire. Pop: Wizard (27–28, wizardfestival.com), Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. Solfest (27–29, solwayfestival.co.uk), Maryport, Cumbria. Watchet music festival (27–29, watchetfestival.co.uk), Watchet, Somerset. Classical: Serenata (26–28, serenatafestival.com), Smedmore Estate, Kimmeridge, Dorset.
• See also efestivals.co.uk
A day at the races, Isle of Wight and nationwide
From 25 to 30 August, more than 40 marathon-class powerboats will be competing in the British Powerboat festival at Cowes, Isle of Wight. This year's "race village" promises live music, street theatre, stalls and fireworks. Or there's Ramsgate's rather more serene Royal Temple Yacht Club regatta from 16 to 21 August.
• Powerboat festival (01590 626444, britishpowerboatfestival.co.uk); free (race village: adults £7.50, children £2.50). Ramsgate Week (01843 591766, ramsgateweek.com); free
COASTAL WALKS
Pendeen Watch to Ives, Cornwall, 14 miles
This rugged section of the South West Coast Path, just north of Land's End, is one of the toughest, with plenty of clifftop dips and climbs, but also one of the most rewarding. The landscape is wild and windswept, and along the way you'll find an old tin mine, an iron age fort, a lighthouse and the site of a shipwreck. You might spot seals, basking sharks and even whales.
Ravenscar to Scarborough, Yorkshire, 10.5 miles
Breathtaking views over Robin Hood's Bay make this section of the Cleveland Way national trail worth doing. The area was to be the site of a Victorian resort that was never finished – you'll find its spooky remains everywhere. Further on is Hayburn Wyke, a beautiful cove backed by steep, wooded cliffs and a waterfall. Take refreshments at Ravenscar Tearooms at Ravenscar, the Raven Hall Hotel (ravenhall.co.uk) and the Hayburn Wyke Inn (hayburnwykeinn.co.uk).
• See nationaltrail.co.uk/clevelandway; clevelandway.co.uk
Lower Largo to Crail, Fife, Scotland, 18 miles
King James VI described this part of Fife as a "beggar's mantle fringed with gold". The walk leads you along the coast from Lower Largo along the Fife Coastal Path, through the lovely fishing villages of Elie and Cellardyke, the larger fishing and yachting ports of Piteenweem and Anstruther, before finally reaching the little harbour of Crail.
Stop off at the fish bar at Anstruther – it's one of the best chippies in Scotland (01333 310518).
• Download a leaflet from fifecoastalpath.co.uk or see the Berwick to Aberdeen section of nationalcoastalpath.co.uk
Prestatyn to Llandudno, north Wales, 27 miles
By 2012, it should be possible to walk around the entire Welsh coastline. For now, though, try this new path, which was opened on 1 July. It runs along the north coast from Prestatyn to Llandudno's west shore, taking in a colony of little terns at Gronant dunes, and the Little and Great Ormes.
• See walking.visitwales.com
Whitesands to Solva, Pembrokeshire, 13 miles
A moderately strenuous ramble through the Pembrokeshire Coast national park – a landscape of rugged cliffs, sandy beaches and wooded estuaries. This section of the coast path is close to the amenities and beaches of St David's and Solva, and its bus links access make it a good place for short or circular walks. The whole path stretches 186 miles from St Dogmaels to Amroth.
• See Pembrokeshire coast path (nationaltrail.co.uk). Pembrokeshire Coast national park (pcnpa.org.uk)
