IN Rudyard Kipling's much-loved poem Sussex, his final stanza closes with “In a fair ground – Sussex by the sea”.

One of this country's greatest ever writers was well aware of the connection between our great county and the sea. And we should be too.

Because Sussex is idyllic England in a nutshell - and much of that is down to the blue stuff.

There is nothing quite like the view of the rolling green of the South Downs giving way to the towering cliffs and the expanse of the English Channel.

The sea gives us everything from a family day out, to fantastic views and in some cases even our livelihoods.

Surfer Jon Spong was born in London but always wanted to be closer to the water. So after a short stint in Kent, he made the move to Sussex and soon fell in love with our coastline.

He said: “When I made my home here I decided to get out and see more of the coast.

“When I decided to get out there, it was so much more beautiful than I expected – I was thinking it would just be stony beaches but it is more than that.

“Seeing the Sussex countryside and seeing it from the sea is such a special view. It is beautiful and uninterrupted apart from the occasional seal.

“When you are out on what surfers call dawn patrol (an early morning surf) and you have the sunrise over the sea on the Seven Sisters, how would you not want to go back?”

But you don't have to surf to enjoy the sea. You can go for a brisk swim or bounce across the waves in a boat from one of the county's many harbours and marinas.

From the sandy shores of West Wittering in the west, where celebs like Kate Winslet and Keith Richards reside, to the wetlands of Rye Harbour in the east, our coastline has everything.

Mark Burgess, from Hove-based adventure swimming holiday company SwimTrek, organises trips around the world, but for him there is something special about Sussex.

He said: “Along the Seven Sisters from Seaford through to Eastbourne the water quality is fantastic; I can remember as a child swimming at Birling Gap, it is always a little refreshing but the clarity of water is amazing.”