I went to the Clevedon Marine Lake near Bristol and it was like nothing I had seen before

The Clevedon[1] Marine Lake is one of those places several people had told me about, but I had not had the chance to actually go. So, when the weather warmed up last week, I got in the car one afternoon with my son and drove up to the seaside town. Getting there was straightforward, just a 30-minute drive mostly on the motorway, and parking was also not an issue.

There is a big car park right by it run by North Somerset[2] Council, with fees ranging[3] from GBP1.50 for an hour to GBP8 all day. Unsure of where I was going, I had to ask where the Marine Lake - which is filled with sea water - was but it turned out to be straightforward to find and less than a five-minute walk from the car park (ten with a toddler). Despite it being a big space, it was fairly busy without feeling overwhelmingly so.

We walked over to one of the areas on the side where I was told it was more shallow so my son could touch the ground, but it turned out he mostly wanted to be held. The water did feel cold - but this was ok as it was such a warm day - and clean; but I have to admit I was not a fan of the algae. I forgot to bring some sort of water shoes, which would have been much appreciated given the uneven, rocky and slippy ground once in the water.

So don't make my mistake and bring some.

After spending some time in the water, we walked over to the pebble beach where my son had lots of fun playing. This was followed by some time on the different rides in the nearby arcade (no need to pay; I actually did so once and he got really scared). We rounded off the afternoon with an ice cream from one of the multiple places and by spending some time in the large playground right next to car park.

There is also a pub - The Salthouse - right next to the Marine Lake with a large beer garden which we didn't go to, but I imagine would be very nice to sit outside in a sunny afternoon.

Of more than a thousand reviews, the pub has an average rating of 4.2 on Google so I would be keen to go there on another visit. The Clevedon Marine Lake is like nothing I have seen before - I very much grew up by the Mediterranean so tides and cold waters are generally not for me - but it felt like something to make the sea around the UK appealing to newbies like me. While the lake itself is probably more appropriate for adults and those with older children, we still had a lovely afternoon by the sea as there is so much to do in the area.

I would definitely go back for more.

References

1. ^ Clevedon (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
2. ^ North Somerset (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
3. ^ fees ranging (n-somerset.gov.uk)