It is part of the civil parish of Bigbury which is centred on a small village of that name about a mile inland.

At the start of the 20th century Bigbury-on-Sea consisted of a few fishermen's cottages with fish cellars.

The village grew with the growth in holidaymaking and now has a beach cafe, and by the mainland side of causeway is the Burgh Island Causeway resort built in 1998 replacing the burnt out fishermen's cottages after a controversial planning application.

The large sandy beach is very popular for wave and wind based water sports, but it lost its Blue Flag beach status in 2012 due to water quality issues.

[2] There are two large car parks with easy access to the beaches and the walk across the sand bar to Burgh Island with its Art Deco Hotel and Pilchard Inn.