Where you'll be
Crimdon Dene —
Durham's quieter, sandier coast.
The southern end of the Durham Heritage Coast: magnesian-limestone cliffs, ancient woodlands inland, and the only proper sand dunes on the County Durham shoreline. Five minutes from the front door to your feet in the sand.
Address
Joy By The Sea
Crimdon Dene Holiday Park
Hartlepool, County Durham
TS27 4BN
On the doorstep
The only sand dunes on Durham's coast
Crimdon's long sandy beach is the southern bookend of the Durham Heritage Coast. The dunes — protected as part of the Durham Coast National Nature Reserve, and rare on this stretch — sit just beyond the park boundary, with a path leading straight down to the sand.
It's dog-friendly all year. In late spring the dunes host a wardened colony of Little Terns — one of Britain's rarest seabirds — so you may spot the conservation fencing that protects them.
On the park
Parkdean facilities, included with your stay
Crimdon Dene is run by Parkdean Resorts. As guests of Joy By The Sea you have access to everything on the park — at no extra cost.
Facilities and opening times are run by Parkdean and can vary by season — the park is typically open March to early November.
Within a short drive
Plenty to fill the week
You won't be short of things to do — from warships and woodlands to sea-glass beaches and a living museum. Here are the favourites.
National Museum of the Royal Navy, Hartlepool
15 min driveHome to HMS Trincomalee — the oldest British warship still afloat, built 1817 — plus a recreated Georgian quayside and museum. Free parking, brilliant for kids.
Durham Heritage Coast path
On the doorstepStraight from the park gate. The 3-mile Crimdon circular passes the dunes, the Little Tern colony, Blackhall Rocks rockpools and the Denemouth viaduct.
Castle Eden Dene Nature Reserve
15 min driveA 550-acre wooded ravine inland from Peterlee — miles of footpaths, hundreds of plant species, and the famous 'Devil's Lapstone' boulder.
Seaham & sea-glass beaches
25 min driveFamous for sea glass washed up from old Victorian glassworks. Bring a bag, and say hello to the 'Tommy' WWI statue on the front.
Seaton Carew beach
10 min driveA classic wide sandy town beach with a promenade, amusements and ice cream — an easy afternoon when you don't want to drive far.
Apollo Pavilion, Peterlee
15 min driveVictor Pasmore's striking 1969 Brutalist concrete sculpture spanning a lake. Genuinely unusual architecture — and free to visit.
Beamish Museum
40 min driveThe North East's brilliant living open-air museum — trams, a 1900s town, a pit village and a working farm. A proper full day out.
Saltburn-by-the-Sea
35 min driveVictorian pier, cliff tramway and one of the best surf-and-chips beaches on the whole coast.
Hungry? Cod on the Rocks at Blackhall does the best chips nearby; Hartlepool marina and the Headland have plenty more.
Getting here
Easy reach from across the North
Crimdon Dene is just off the A19, a few minutes from the A179 Hartlepool turn-off. Drive times below are with normal traffic.
From Durham
~20 min
From Sunderland
~25 min
From Middlesbrough
~25 min
From Newcastle
~40 min
From York
~1h 20
From Leeds
~1h 25
From Manchester
~2h 35
From Edinburgh
~3h 15
Nearest station: Hartlepool (~10 min by taxi). Arriva buses 23 & 24 stop near the park entrance.