Watcombe Bay is a bay on the south west coast of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It lies just to the west of

Freshwater Bay Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

. It faces south towards the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

and is one of the smallest bays of the Isle of Wight. It is cut into the chalk cliff face of Highdown Cliffs. Its shoreline is less than 100m in length. Because of the steep cliffs it is only accessible by foot by scrambling round on the rocks from Freshwater Bay at low tide. The seabed is a mixture of mud, sand and shells. The beach is predominantly

shingle Shingle may refer to: Construction *Roof shingles or wall shingles, including: **Wood shingle ***Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle that is split from a bolt, with a more rustic appearance than a sawed shingle ***Quercus imbricaria, or shingle oak ...

The bay is best viewed from the cliff top on the Isle of Wight Coastal Path which passes by the bay. In the mid-19th century, a tunnel and steps led from the clifftop to the beach.image preceding p93, ''Brannon's Picture of the Isle of Wight'', George Brannon, c.1850
Internet Archive brannonspictureo00bran
/ref> A second tunnel, intended to connect the beach to the grounds of Redoubt House above, was commenced in the 1930s by EH Crinage.Looking Back, Friday, 12 July 2013
Sarah Bryce, ''Isle of Wight County Press'', citing ''IOWCP'' 16 July 1938. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

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Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

s , place =

, bridge = Watcombe Bay , bridge signs = , upstream text = West , upstream =

Scratchell's Bay Scratchell's Bay is a bay on the south west coast of the Isle of Wight, England just to the south east of The Needles. It faces roughly south towards the English Channel, it is 250m in length and is straight. The name is thought to have come fro ...

, upstream signs = , downstream text = East , downstream =

, downstream signs = Bays of the Isle of Wight