Name:

Camber Sands

Beach description:

Camber Sands is a sandy south-facing beach near the Kent/East Sussex border. The site is slightly choppy in light winds, but you can get some big waves when the south westerlies pick up. This is a great spot and very versatile as Greatstone Beach (east-facing) is only 10-15 minutes away. This means almost any wind direction is covered. Wind here is usually less gusty and more reliable than many other UK spots as there are not many obstacles nearby (in fact, a lot of the surrounding land is below sea level). Because of this and the M20 motorway, Camber is a very popular spot with the London population. Probably the busiest in the UK, with up to 300 kiters on a warm windy weekend with suitable tides. Camber Sands works on ESE, clockwise around to W. The best directions are S, clockwise around to W. For ESE around to SE you're better off heading over to Greatstone Beach instead.

Beach Access

Navigate to Lydd Eoad, Camber, East Sussex (TN31 7SB). Staying on that, head east out of Camber, you will see a big gravel car park with a metal shipping container in it. You can park here for free.

Code of Conduct

Kitesurfing is only permitted on the eastern side of camber sands (near the gravel car park at Jury's gap). The western end with the sand dunes is reserved for sunbathers (even in winter or on windy days when there's no one there! Grumble grumble). The kitesurfing area is marked off by a black and white chequered flag. You should stay east of this (that's to the right, when looking from the water to the beach). Weather predictions from www.xcweather.co.uk are usually reasonably good. Bear in mind that when the sun comes out it can easily add 5 - 15 mph of southerly wind speed at Camber.

Wind Direction

Water Type

Camber Sands is slightly choppy in light winds, but you can get some big waves when the south westerlies pick up. This makes it a venue for both freestylers and wave riders. You generally need to leave about 3-4 hours either side of high tide for the beach to appear.

Hazards

There's a shipwreck which is hidden at higher tides. At high tide the sea defences (groynes) are hidden. At medium-high tide they leave very little space to safely land your kite. Lots of wind powered sports buggies, land boards, kite surfers etc. General beach users (usually only on very warm days).