beach cafe – The Extra Mile

Hand holding The Coastal Café Guide in a living room.

Introducing: The Coastal Café Guide

Kerry O’Neill is the writer of 2024’s Amazon bestseller, The Coastal Café Guide (a book featured in The Scotsman, Times Weekend and more). Here’s her welcome to the book, to give you a feel for what it and we at Extra Mile Books are all about. Kerry, over to you…

“The coast represents many things to many people. Some head to the coast purely to relax or for fun, holidays, escapes, surfs, swims, and sunbathing. Others go to be uplifted, inspired, and buoyed by the mental health and well-being benefits of being in, near, and on the ocean. Whatever your motivation, you’ll need to eat while there. This guide is a counter-clockwise journey around Britain. It starts in the South West (where we at Printslinger/ Extra Mile Books are based) then heads east and up to Scotland, returning via rugged West Wales.

Food with a view and beach eats

This first edition has around 150 cafés, restaurants, seafood shacks, horsebox pop-ups, beach cabins, bars, and pubs that we hope you’ll enjoy visiting. Often small and independently run, each place is ready to keep your salty self fed and watered while at the coast. If it is food with a view you seek, in many cases: you got it. Love them? Great! Prefer other spots? Tell us for next time. We’ve had some epic experiences while researching this book.

What’s more impressive is the resilience of Britain’s small coastal café owners. Battling the same challenges as the rest of us, they manage to keep that beachy flag flying in the face of increased food costs, difficulties finding staff, and the famously fickle British weather. By visiting the places in this new guide, you are supporting the people that work so hard to make your day memorable, with their splashes of local colour and tasty regional specialities.

May this book be your companion on many foodie and coastal adventures.

Kerry O’Neill

Writer of The Coastal Café Guide and publisher at Extra Mile Books, from Printslinger.

Sound like your kind of book?

If our ethos resonates with you, we have a sneaking suspicion that you might enjoy The Coastal Café Guide, or its sibling books The Farm Shop Guide (which does what it says on the tin) or The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services. Hit the image or button below to browse our current guides, and do let us know if you find any favourite coastal cafés that we’ve yet to stumble upon.

Win 2 nights in Devon - competition blog post header

Competition ends 8 June. ENTER NOW!

Our competition has been running over on Instagram for a wee while now so we’re giving it a final boost…and you a final chance to enter. Here’s what the prize includes, and it’s a good-un…

Win a pitch for two nights at Ocean Pitch, Croyde; a £50 voucher for Biffen’s Kitchen; a £50 cinema voucher; plus copies of bestsellers The Coastal Café Guide (from Extra Mile Books) and The Salt Path.

🌊🌊🌊 TO ENTER 🌊🌊🌊

1. FOLLOW @extramilebooks on Instagram and LIKE the Competition post
2. FOLLOW @oceanpitch on Insta
3. FOLLOW @biffenskitchen on Insta

🌊🌊🌊 THE PRIZE 🌊🌊🌊

🌊 SLEEP: A pitch for 2 nights for 2 people at Croyde Bay’s Ocean Pitch Campsite, Devon (bring own van/ tent etc)

🌊 EAT: £50 in vouchers to spend at Biffen’s Kitchen Food Truck (on-site at Ocean Pitch)

🌊 WATCH: £50 Cinema Vouchers to see The Salt Path? The Surfer? Your call…

🌊 READ: A copy of #1 bestsellers: The Coastal Cafe Guide from Extra Mile Books, The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

🌊🌊🌊 GOOD LUCK! 🌊🌊🌊

🌊 TERMS AND CONDITIONS
One winner will be chosen at random from competition post ‘Likes’ on @extramilebooks’ Instagram page, on 09.06.25. Deadline for entrants: 23:59 on 08.06.2025. To be valid, the entrant must have ‘Followed’ @extramilebooks, @oceanpitch, + @biffenskitchen on Instagram. The winner will be contacted via Instagram DM and has five calendar days to respond or they will forfeit their right to the prize and a second random winner will be drawn and contacted. The Ocean Pitch and Biffen’s Kitchen prizes must be taken during the same consecutive two-day period. No cash equivalent or part-refunds will be offered. Ocean Pitch camping dates are subject to pitch availability. Weekend availability is very low until September but any available dates including mid-week dates are permitted. Prize valid for bookings with Ocean Pitch for dates until end Sept 2025. No purchase necessary. Entrants must be resident in the UK and be at least 18 years of age. No monetary equivalent offered. No transport or other costs are included. This prize is not transferrable unless agreed with Extra Mile Books. This giveaway is run by Extra Mile Books (www.theextramile.guide). It is not affiliated with Meta, Facebook, or Instagram in any way. Please send any Qs to the organisers: hello@extramilebooks.co.uk.

A Coastal Campsite of the Year

Ocean Pitch is a brilliant, surf’s-edge campsite in Croyde Bay, Devon. This spot is world-renowned for its perfect waves (and Ocean Pitch is renowned for its epic staff!). As if that’s not enough, the competition winner also gets £50 credit at Biffen’s Kitchen. The legend of his pinkled onions alone is enough to keep hungry surfers coming back year after year. We’re also throwing in £50 in cinema vouchers – tell us your closest complex or indie cinema and we’ll sort that bit out just for you.

Click to watch the competition film:

Enter The Coastal Café Guide's competition below

If you need a break and an escape to the edges of the country (whether you win the competition or not!) you might just need The Coastal Café Guide. It’s packed with around 150 places to eat near the sea, from beach eats to fancier, fishier restaurants, to cool, surf-inspired shacks like the hidden gem that is Biffen’s Kitchen, at Ocean Pitch, Croyde. To browse this or any of our other guides, see below.

Tag: beach cafe

The energy behind our Coastal Café Guide