Off Grid Camping by the sea | Isle of Portland take 2

Off GridDorsetWeekends AwayParkings near the beach

29 May

It was time to go back to Portland again! This time in much nicer weather. If you’re interested in our first trip please visit this blog post.

We actually planned to explore the quarry and visit few other places but sometimes things just don’t go to plan ;) We aimed to park at the same parking we stayed last time but upon approaching the island we noticed that Chesil beach carp park had lots of campervans and motorhomes parked. After a quick investigation we found out that overnight stay is allowed..sort of... You can basically buy a 24h hour ticket, forgive me but I can’t remember how much we paid. It was something around £6 more or less***. I am unable to find any info on this at the time of writing this post, but will try to update this asap. We decided to stay there for a night or two. There are public toilets on site and a cafe where you can buy coffee, breakfast or nice chips :) Although, we do have our own toilet in our van, it’s nice to be able to use a proper restroom with hot water..

Chesil Beach Car Park

Portland Beach Rd, Weymouth DT4 9XE

This location was amazing. The car park is located literally on a narrow stretch between Chesil beach and Portland Harbough, great place for kite surfing, kayaking and paddle boarding, so you can enjoy those beautiful seaside sunsets on one side and have fun on water if you’re fan of water sports.

2023 UPDATE

ovenight parking at Chesil beach

is no longer allowed.

Also, new charges apply :(

You do have to pay dues if you want to use your small vessel on Portland Harbour. Windsurf, Kitesurf, SUP, Wind SUP, Kite Foil, Wing Foil, Windsurf Foil, E-Foil boards, Kayaks and Small Inflatable Boats are all classified as vessels. Here is everything you need to know about how and where to apply/pay https://www.portland-port.co.uk/port-and-harbour-dues

We decided to take it easy(seems to be a thing with us haha), my brother joined us the next day with his family. We spent whole weekend walking on the beach, cooking camp food, sunbathing, had BBQs, caught some crabs in a little tidal lake that was in front of our van, took lots of pictures and had lots of wine ;) On our last day we explored the quarry a bit and headed home.

p.s. remember to use sun cream kids!

I really like Portland, staying right next to a beach was pretty epic. Car park was busy at times but it wasn’t too bad or loud. Please make sure to check the information board when you arrive for overnight stay info.

Enjoy the photos :)