Studland is described in the north as Shell Bay and in the south as Ballard Down. It is effectively a continuation of Sandbanks further to the north and as it suggests, banks of sand or dunes, wind blown or tide transported from further round the coast. Sand can be removed from Sandbanks by the tide, be circulated outside Poole Harbour and deposited at Studland.
Whilst Sandbanks and beyond may be have the sand slowly removed by nature, and replaced by man, the land above the beaches is protected by concrete. At Studland things are a lot more stable and almost self-sustaining, although there is a danger of slow erosion around and about Shell Bay.
Sand that accumulated at Studland Bay did in fact, very simplistically, create a lagoon out of marshland in roughly the 17th-19th century and it is now known as Little Sea. This stretch of water may well have been connected to Poole Harbour and the sea in earlier centuries, perhaps during higher tides such that it did not become a channel like North/South Haven. It sadly goes un-noticed by most visitors because they either drive along Ferry Road or walk along Studland Bay without realising they have traversed around it. The small ingress of the human species does however help maintain it's status as a nature reserve. Surplus water which has filtered down from the land mainly drains away at Shell Bay.
As we work along the beach from the ferry in the north you start in Shell Bay which did act as a catchment for vast quantities of shells but more recent observations have found their members diminished. What has made Studland particularly successful has been the distinct lack of pebbles, and there is space for all to enjoy with long gentle slope to a soft sand bay. The lack of pebbles is because the bay is sheltered from south westerly waves that one would expect to move the sand.
Studland does have both popularity and notoriety as a Naturist resort. To that end an area has been designated, and marked with signs, where you may expect to see them, although they have no particular rights.
Popularity with naturists is long standing, since possibly pre-1900. In the earlier days, a person, a couple, or a whole family would secret themselves in the dunes and often go un-noticed, not being a problem to anyone. Over the last several decades such folk have become more open and apparent, sometimes to the extent of them assuming it is their own private domain and that they are a law unto themselves. It is of course a beach in the ownership of the National Trust and open to the public.
As you move into Studland village you have both the Middle Beach and South Beach car parks. After that you are on to the Swanage Road with no further scope for parking.
In an attempt to escape this parking bedlam many actually leave their vehicles at Sandbanks and cross to Shell Bay as foot passengers on the ferry.
On summer high days and holidays Studland reputedly takes on some 3,000 vehicles/20,000 people, this is a phenomenal quantity given the space available and the convergence of the roads from Sandbanks/Poole, Corfe/Wareham and Swanage.
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