All three wrecks lie in sand or in mud and on certain tides can be accessed on foot
Public access to three "really significant" shipwrecks will not be affected by government protection for the sites, Historic England has said.
Permission will now be required for people to investigate the medieval fishing boat and two 18th Century merchant vessels in Devon.
Causing deliberate damage to the wrecks will also be classed as illegal.
Historic England said the status did not prevent people from "building sandcastles next to them".
All three wrecks are rare examples of wooden sailing vessels found in English waters
Head of listings, Joe Flatman, said the three wrecks on the west side of the Axe River and off Westward Ho! were a "small number of really significant wrecks" with two accessed by a walk down the beach creating a "perfect day out".
He said the status "won't stop people from walking over them and building sandcastles next to them, but will stop them from hacking off some wood for a barbecue".
Bill Horner, Archaeologist at Devon County Council said: "While these wrecks have been known about for some time and we have been monitoring their condition, it's great that Devon's maritime past is now being recognised."
The shipwrecks
The biggest of three is thought to be a merchant vessel sailing from Oporto to Bristol with a cargo of port wine
The Axe Boat
The earliest of the wrecks lies in a mud bank on the west side of the Axe River in south Devon
Discovered in 2001 samples of wood show it was built between 1400 and 1640
Ships like this were used in coastal trade or fishing and a common site as England's mercantile trade developed
Nearby Axmouth was ranked as a major port by the mid-14th Century and accounted for 15% of the country's shipping trade
Sally
The larger wreck at Westward Ho! (23m (75ft) long x 7m (23ft) wide) is nationally important as the ship's construction and orientation remain clearly visible
It is believed to be the remains of the Sally that ran aground on the sands in 1769, while bound from Oporto in Portugal to Bristol with a cargo of port wine
A Severn Trow
The smaller of the two by Westward Ho! is a small merchant ship working locally in the Bristol Channel coastline around 200 years ago
It is lying at such an angle that it appears to have been driven ashore in a storm
About 11,000 vessels are known to have been wrecked in England's waters in the late 18th Century, but few from this period have been discovered other than important trading vessels
Historic England advised people to check of the tidal and weather conditions before visiting the wrecks
