In 2004 I camped out for the night on Roses Beach, where I was ravaged by midges for six hours while my boyfriend snored at that time under typical Catalan skies.
Iona Sharkey, a 48-year-old mother of three from Somerset, enjoyed a more successful beach camping trip around Greece in her late teens. “It was the best holiday I’ve ever had,” she recalls.
For three weeks the penniless Shark traveled around the Greek islands with a group of friends, the three ferries boarding at nightfall to seek out remote beach spots. “We saw amazing cosmic displays, got drunk on ouzo, went swimming at night and watched the police, as well as the occasional thrill,” she recalls.
What a difference a few decades make. In 2024, there is a growing crackdown on beach camping, with travelers being warned they could face hefty fines for camping off the coast in popular holiday destinations across mainland Europe and the UK.
Rules introduced in Benidorm in March 2024 prohibit anyone from sleeping on the beach between midnight and 7am, with fines of €750-€1,200 (£645-£1,027) for any breaches.
Wild camping is also now illegal along Portugal’s coastal protected areas, including beaches, nature reserves and parks; Wild campers risk fines of up to £500 here.
Popular coastal towns across Croatia (including Dubrovnik and Split) go a step further, introducing bans in 2023 against sleeping in any public spaces, even during the day, with fines of up to €300 (£256) awarded on the spot. anyone caught napping rakes (the local fire water) on a bench along the sea.
In Malta and Italy, meanwhile, visitors must obtain hard-to-find permits from the authorities to sleep on the sand under a starry sky.
Nic Shacklock from bed design company Online-Bedrooms.co.uk, who researched camping regulations across Europe, said travelers and romantics alike should be wary of the rising restrictions.
“It’s important to know the laws about spending time at the beach,” he says. “Tourists can be heavily fined for illegally taking the stairs, sleeping overnight or wild camping.”
Portia Jones, 39, is the host of the Travel Goals podcast and lived in Australia from 2013 to 2014, where beach camping is a rite of passage for young Aussies and backpackers on the coastal tourism trail. “We regularly slept on the beach with a blanket and a box of cheap wine,” she recalls.
Jones says she has always been a “conscious” beach sleeper, cleaning up after herself and refraining from playing loud music. “You want to go to sleep to the sound of the ocean, not Beyoncé, after all,” she laughs.
However, even Australia is now cracking down on beach camping, with Queensland recently banning camper vans and backpackers from parking between 10pm and 4am, issuing $309 (£162) fines.
Part of these crackdowns is the cause of Australia’s growing housing crisis, as young “van rescuers” and older motorists compete for free legal parking spots.
Wild camping was banned in England and Wales under the Vagrancy Act 1824, and this civil regulation is most likely to be enforced after the beach litter and toilet scandals of the Covid years.
In 2021, Bournemouth introduced nighttime beach patrols and a £1,000 fine for anyone caught camping on its crescent sand. In Cornwall, the popularity of this holiday destination combined with a history of irresponsible camping means that the bylaws against overnight stays are often strictly enforced, although fines are less severe (around £70 to usually).
Among the liberal bright spots for beach campers is Scotland, where the Land Reform Act 2003 established public access rights to most land.
This includes more than 6,000 miles of coastline, where tourists can wild camp provided they follow the principles of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
In Sweden, the right of public access (Allemansrätten) means that visitors are allowed to camp in most natural areas in the country, including forests and privately owned land (and near beaches but not on the sand) and the similar Norwegian “right of roaming” allows for anyone to stay overnight in a tent anywhere. in nature in Norway as long as it is over 150 meters from the nearest residence.
And even in punitive countries there are windows of permissiveness, such as August 15 Ferragosto in Italy, a public holiday when Italians go to the beach to barbecue, set off fireworks and camp under the stars.
Sharkey is unlikely to revisit beach sleeping in middle age, especially with the Greek authorities handing out €3,000 (£2,553) fines to anyone caught dropping their sleeping bags on that handsome Hellenic shore.
“At my age the lure of a mattress is very strong,” she says.