The Island covers only ten square miles and is accessible from the mainland by a road bridge at its northern end. Halfway along its four-mile length it is almost cut in two at the point where Mill Rythe, a narrow inlet, comes in on the east side from Chichester Harbour.
Although Hayling is a popular retirement spot, there is a broad demographic spread and there are two infant, two junior and one secondary school.
Part of the beach, at West Beachlands, now boasts two European Blue Flags, the Tidy Britain Group's Premier Resort Seaside Award and the Solent Water Quality Award in recognition of its high standards of beach and foreshore management and good water quality.

Beachlands itself is over 100 acres of land between Sea Front [road] and the shore. Its grassy dunes, gorse, wild flowers and bird life provide delightful picnic spots, and its unspoilt nature is what sets it aside from many other, larger, resorts.
The Amusements and Fun Fair are a long established attraction.
  A more recent addition on Hayling sea front is the East Hayling Light Railway, a narrow gauge train opened in the summer of 2003 running from Beachlands to Eastoke Corner. An intermediate station is provided at Seagrove Avenue.

Some Local History
The name is Saxon in origin, meaning the Island of Hegel's People, but when the Saxons first occupied the area there was already a Roman building in North Hayling. By the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, most of the island had been settled. There were four manors and a population as large as that found in the three mainland parishes of Bedhampton, Havant and Warblington put together.
In North Hayling, St Peter's Church, built in 1140, is the loveliest building on the island. It is a fine example of a typical English village church of the Norman period. Its foundations are said to be large 'erratic' stones left as the ice receded in the post-glacial period.
In ancient times the Wade-Way was the only way to reach Hayling Island on foot until the construction of the first wooden toll bridge in 1824. The toll bridge was replaced in 1956 by the current metal bridge.