Colwell Bay is a bay in the west of the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

. It is located between the towns of Totland

Totland

Totland is a village and civil parish at the western tip of the Isle of Wight. It lies on the coast at Colwell Bay, which is the closest part of the island to the British mainland...

 and Yarmouth

Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

Yarmouth is a port and civil parish in the western part of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of mainland England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river...

. The bay's northernmost point is Cliff's End (Fort Albert

Fort Albert

Fort Albert is a tower fort nestling under the cliffs west of Fort Victoria on the Isle of Wight, England. It was also known as Cliff End Fort, named after the Northern extremity of Colwell Bay .-History:...

) the closest point of the Island to the British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 mainland, with Hurst Castle

Hurst Castle

Hurst Castle on the south coast of England is one of Henry VIII's Device Forts, built at the end of a long shingle barrier beach at the west end of the Solent to guard the approaches to Southampton. Hurst Castle was sited at the narrow entrance to the Solent where the ebb and flow of the tides...

 lying at the end of a long peninsula just 1500 metres (a little less than a mile) to the northwest. The southernmost point is Warden Point.

Colwell Bay has a popular beach, with two miles of sand and shingle, and facilities including cafes, shops and equipment hire outlets.

An area of 13.56 hectares has been notified as a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, notification originally taking place in 1959. The site is significant for its Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

 geology and maritime vegetated soft cliff habitat.

It is the location of three chine

Chine

A chine is a steep-sided river valley where the river flows through coastal cliffs to the sea. Typically these are soft eroding cliffs such as sandstone or clays. The word chine originates from the Saxon "Cinan" meaning a gap or yawn....

s: Colwell Chine, Brambles Chine and Linstone Chine.

Colwell Bay is on the A3054 road

A3054 road

The A3054 is an A-Class Road on the Isle of Wight in Southern England. It forms the Northern half of the circular around-the-Island A-class loop, the southern half being the A3055...

 and near the western end of the A3055 road

A3055 road

The A3055 is an A-Class Road on the Isle of Wight in Southern England. It forms the Southern portion of the circular around-the-Island A-class loop, the northern section being the A3054...

. Public transport to the area is provided by Southern Vectis route 7

Southern Vectis route 7

Southern Vectis route 7 is a bus service operated by Southern Vectis between Newport and Alum Bay via Yarmouth, Freshwater and Totland. The general daytime frequency of the route is every hour each direction. There has been significant local concern over the withdrawal of route 7 from some villages...

 and the Needles Tour

Island Breezers

Island Breezers is the brand name given to the open top bus services run by Southern Vectis, which is the main bus operator on the Isle of Wight....

.

External links

• Colwell Bay, official IoW tourism website
• IOW Council information