Hickling Broad is a 600-hectare (1,500-acre) nature reserve 4 km south-east of Stalham, north-east of Norwich in Norfolk.

[8] It is the broad with the largest surface area, and the water is slightly brackish, due to its proximity to the sea.

[9] The navigation channel is only 1.5 m deep, with much of the broad being shallower; it is 1.4 km2, making it one of the largest expanses of open water in East Anglia.

Amongst the rare insects is the Swallowtail butterfly, subspecies Papilio machaon brittanicus which feeds on milk-parsley (Peucedanum palustre), the Norfolk hawker Aeshna isosceles and Emperor dragonfly.

[11] There is a commemorative Blue plaque in Regent Street in Great Yarmouth, it reads "Headquarters of the Royal Naval Air Service Occupied these premises during WWI April 1913-November 1918 Flying land & sea planes from South Denes, Hickling Broad[s] [sic], and heavily involved in anti Zeppelin warfare.