Summer at the seaside — time to show off your figures. How about these for size: 119 beaches with Blue Flags for 2005, compared with barely a dozen 20 years ago. Almost 95% of the sea safe for bathing. And a heat wave predicted for this August. Yep, the British coast is looking really rather gorgeous these days.

No wonder we’re returning in droves. Waking up to the sea change in quality, 30m of us will take a break of four nights or longer on home shores this year.

However, you do need to be choosy. You can’t just turn up at any old resort and expect to find a shiny and sophisticated 21st-century travel experience. If you have children, then what you’re looking for is somewhere that has cleaned up its beaches and revamped its facilities without wiping out the charm and cheerfulness.

You want a hotel or holiday cottage where “family-friendly” doesn’t mean wipe-clean decor and infantile rules. You want a seafront with penny arcades, not pound shops, and Punch and Judy, not punch-drunk stag parties. And you want ice creams from an ice-cream parlour, not from Tesco Express.

Luckily, we’ve found just the thing: seven cracking little seaside towns where the flags have turned blue, but the atmosphere remains authentic. So, knot your hankie, grab your shrimping net and prepare to bury Dad in the sand, as we count down our hit parade of Britain’s best family beach breaks.

Unless stated, all hotel prices are based on a double room in August, B&B; self-catering prices are for a week in August, sleeping four.

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