Margate, the sleepy seaside town with the soul of a punk poet, is a place that wraps around its residents like a patchwork quilt of memories, salt air, and cheeky charm.

It’s a town that tourists flirt with in the summer and artists romanticise, but only those who live here year-round truly understand its quirks, contradictions, and quiet magic.

Living in Margate is like being in on a secret—one that’s equal parts hilarious, beautiful, bizarre, and occasionally frustrating. Here are six things only Margate locals will really, truly get.

1. The Dual Personality of the Sea

To an outsider, the sea is always lovely. A view. A backdrop for selfies. But to a Margate local, the sea is moody, unpredictable, and deeply personal. It’s not just a view—it’s a character in your life story.

Some mornings, you wake up and it’s sparkling like someone scattered diamonds across it. Other times, it’s pulled so far back you wonder if it’s ever coming back (hello, extreme low tide). And then there are the stormy days, when waves crash into the Harbour Arm and locals get their phones out to film the drama like it’s EastEnders.

You also know better than to promise a beach day just because the forecast says sun. Margate’s microclimate has a mind of its own. That wind? It’ll turn a warm afternoon into a full-body exfoliation.

And let’s not forget the seaweed smell in summer. It hits like a punch in the face—sulphur-y and unapologetic. But somehow, it’s part of the charm. If you know, you know.

2. The Jekyll and Hyde of Summer vs. Winter

There’s Margate in the summer—and then there’s Margate in the winter. They could be two completely different towns.

In summer, it’s like the world suddenly discovered us. Londoners arrive with oversized sunglasses and linen shirts. There are queues outside The Bus Café. Someone’s always filming something. Music floats from Dreamland, the beach is packed, and you can barely move through the Old Town without bumping into someone on a vintage bicycle.

Then, like a switch being flipped, winter arrives and poof—everyone disappears. Shops close earlier. Some close completely. The seafront feels like the set of a post-apocalyptic film. Locals hunker down. There’s a real sense of community among the people who ride out the quiet season—those who stay, no matter what.

It’s peaceful. Sometimes bleak. But also kind of beautiful. You notice the details—the colors of the buildings, the way the clouds look at dusk, the kindness of a stranger in a coffee shop. Only Margate residents truly get to experience both extremes. And that makes it special.

3. Everyone Has a Dreamland Story (or Five)

Dreamland is more than just an amusement park. It’s part of Margate’s DNA. Whether you’re 9 or 90, if you live in Margate, you’ve got at least one Dreamland story that’s equal parts chaos and nostalgia.

Maybe you got stuck on the Scenic Railway. Maybe you went to a gig there and ended up dancing with a stranger until your feet hurt. Maybe you remember it from the ’80s when it had a slightly dodgy reputation and smelled like candyfloss and regret.

Dreamland has reinvented itself more times than Madonna, and locals have seen it all—from the high-energy roller disco days to the quiet years when it sat empty, like a ghost of fun times past.

But no matter what version it’s in, it’s ours. We root for it. We complain about it. We celebrate it. And every time it opens with something new, there’s a part of us that can’t help but smile.

4. The Ongoing Battle: Gentrification vs. Authenticity

Ah, the great Margate debate. Walk down Northdown Road and you’ll see it play out in real time. There’s a Turkish barbershop next to an oat-milk-only café. A corner shop across from a boutique art gallery. And somewhere in the mix, a bloke with a crate selling second-hand DVDs for £1 each.

Margate is changing—fast. Some of it’s great. We’ve got new restaurants, exciting events, cool pop-ups. Property prices have soared (much to the dismay of lifelong locals and the delight of estate agents). There’s an energy here now, an artistic heartbeat that’s impossible to ignore.

But there’s tension too. Between the old and new. Between the people who’ve been here for generations and the newcomers who’ve “discovered” Margate in the past five minutes. Locals worry about losing the raw, working-class spirit that made Margate what it is in the first place.

It’s not an easy conversation—but if you live here, you’ve had it. Over pints. Over fence chats. Over fish and chips on the steps of the Turner.

5. The Secret Beauty Spots Tourists Never Find

Sure, the tourists flock to the main beach and the Turner Contemporary (and fair enough—it is impressive). But real Margate folks know where the magic truly lives.

You know about the tiny alleyways in the Old Town that smell faintly of history and beer. You know the best spot on the Harbour Arm to watch the sun go down without getting photobombed. You know the quiet stretch of Westbrook Bay where you can breathe and think and just be.

You’ve probably stumbled into Walpole Bay Tidal Pool on a weirdly warm March day, still in your hoodie, because the light was too good to ignore. You’ve walked the cliff path to Botany Bay when your head was a mess and come back feeling like the sea whispered a secret in your ear.

These aren’t the postcard moments. These are the soul moments. The ones only Margate people really get to keep.

6. You Never Stop Being Surprised

Margate keeps you on your toes. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, it throws you a curveball.

Like a pop-up poetry night in an abandoned building. A man walking a goat down the promenade. A full-on brass band playing on the seafront with zero explanation. An outdoor cinema showing ‘The Goonies’ under a full moon. A rainbow over Arlington House that somehow makes the brutalist tower block look… beautiful?

Margate is weird. Margate is wonderful. Margate is a place where you can be broke and brilliant, lonely and loved, cold and inspired—all within the same afternoon.

And despite everything—the wind, the seaweed, the ups and downs—if you live here, you know one thing for sure:

There’s nowhere else quite like it.