Whitstable Harbour

Whitstable Harbour is where the town meets the sea, and it is still genuinely at work. It’s a municipal harbour, owned by Canterbury City Council and run by the Whitstable Harbour Board, and it dries out at low tide — so what you see depends on when you come. A small fishing fleet works from the inner harbour, and cargo, mostly roadstone, still comes ashore at the East Quay.

The fish market sells the day’s catch, and stalls around the quay sell prepared oysters and seafood to eat where you stand. Above the market, the Crab and Winkle restaurant looks out over the water; the Harbour Garden Café offers open-air tables in the warmer months. The harbour’s huts and sheds, including the newer South Quay Shed, house a changing mix of independent traders, artists and food stalls.

For many visitors the best part is getting out on the water. The Greta, a Thames sailing barge moored here, runs trips into the estuary to the Maunsell army forts, the wind farm and the seals on the sandbanks. Other historic vessels sail from here too.

It’s free to walk round, and worth an hour at any time of year. The harbour is busiest during the Oyster Festival, when it fills with music, food stalls and crowds gathering for the Landing of the Oysters.
We’ve written about how the harbour came to be built, and about Starvation Point, in our full guide to Whitstable Harbour.