I know it`s hardly Surf City but you can park for free all day long on the shore at Penrhyn Point on the Mawddach Estuary in North Wales with stunning views of the mountains as a back drop .Anywhere the county can get/earn a buck they will.
Used to be free parking at Jon’s pass village treasure island for ever. County decided to improve the drains, dug everything up. Once done free parking no more, in went the parking metres. Agin expensive to park all day.