The Surface 2 Air Shop in Brighton is just a stones throw from Hove’s kitsurfing area, and although this is a fantastic riding spot, it is more for the intermediate-advanced kitesurfer as the launching and landing area is smaller and the water deeper. Fortunately, we have a great variety of top class beaches to choose from in the area, and our IKO/BKSA qualified kitesurfing instructors find that Shoreham Beach has great conditions for a beginner to start their kitesurfing education.
So what about the ‘actual’ conditions? What the weathermen say and what actually happens are not always the same thing, but if you have a bit of local knowledge, which will follow, and keep an eye on the forecast you can greatly increase your chances of having a rockin’ session.
Below is a summary of the conditions we find at Shoreham Beach, and some helpful tips and advice to enable your kitesurfing lessons and sessions to be as safe as possible; and also to help you work out what are the optimal kitesurfing conditions.
The kitesurfing spot at Shoreham Beach is located around 20 minutes drive from Brighton along the coastal road. See directions below for details.
An area of the beach has recently been zoned and managed by the Shoreham Kitesurfing Club to make kitesurfing as safe as possible. The kite zone covers an area 100 meters either side of ‘kite roundabout’, which is situated on the junction of Old Fort Road and Shingle Road at Shoreham Beach.
There is some free parking located near the kite zone and also a car park at the end of Ferry Road where the parade of shops are.
There are public restrooms for all needs, and a café to keep you fueled for your sessions. The local kiters at Shoreham are friendly, and always happy to offer advice or give you a launch. Being one of the best kitesurfing beaches in the area, you will find kiters of all levels, always giving you inspiration and entertainment for the non-kiter.
Winds
Shoreham Beach, like Worthing and Lancing to the west, benefits from local summer sea breezes from May through to September. The wind will pick up in the afternoon as the sun heats the land and can drop off rapidly as the sunsets.
During the winter months Shoreham experiences the full variety of wind conditions from gentle breezes to 50knt+ days combined with overhead surf (only for the experienced and fearless!). However, if you are determined to get out there and make the most of the conditions, then you should try and get out a couple of days before the storm to enjoy the building winds, or the day after a storm has passed to catch the swell generated.
The local prevailing wind is from the SW, and even though in the summer the wind might start off from the NE, with the local sea breeze kicking in, you'll often find that the wind will swing round to the SW and blow a steady F5+ (though BE CAREFUL if sailing late on a summers evening, as the sea breeze will die as quickly as it kicks in).
Anything from the south can provide good conditions, although a southerly wind will be straight onshore and can prove a challenge to get off the beach, and to keep ground once out. This direction is not recommended to kite in! Easterly winds are few and far between, and often come with a chilly Scandinavian airflow, although it does usually offer smoother water conditions. Northerly winds are a NO GO, as they blow offshore!
Currents
You will not find major problems with currents at Shoreham when the tide is low, although at high tide there is a trough close to the beach that can be about 6ft deep and have a strong rip circulating within it. This turbulence makes it quite difficult to enter and exit the water especially if there is a swell running. Kitesurfing at high tide with a large swell is not advisable and should only be considered by experienced riders.
Tides
On all South Coast shingle locations high tides can be rather more demanding for launching and landing, and getting past the shore break. This is why we at Surface2Air advise that you kite three hours either side of low tide to get the best conditions, or to have your Kite surfing lesson.
At low tide Shoreham offers a sandy beach with plenty of room to rig, shallow water to practice and flat to choppy water, which regularly gets super fun wave ramps that are either wind or swell driven.
If it hits the fan…
Should you have a problem out at sea there's usually plenty of craft out, and on a good day there will almost always be other kiters on the water. If you have to dump your kit and swim, there's a good chance it will get washed in further down the coast - but always advise the Coastguard if you abandoned any kit out at sea!
Obstacles
The kite zone stretch of beach is free of groynes and obstacles. Make sure that you take care when launching/landing on the pebble beach and do not kite too close to the breakwater arm of Shoreham Harbour. There is plenty of space west of this structure so there really is no reason to be near it.
Optimal conditions for our Kite Surfing Lessons.
We run our kitesurfing lessons in Brighton at times when we have the best mixture of winds and tides, and if we’re lucky a little sunshine. We schedule our lessons for when we have a good SW wind, and at three hours either side of low tide. A south westerly wind at Shoreham is cross-onshore from the right, which means that no matter what happens you will not end up in France. With a low tide there is a large area of exposed sand making the beach much wider and safer to practice kite flying skills.
After the area of exposed sand the water stays shallow for quite some distance giving the student the perfect environment to practice body dragging and water start skills. The designated kitesurfing zone has a good distance downwind for safety.
How to find the Beach…
Coming from our Kite shop in Hove you head along the coastal road (A259) towards Worthing. At the Shoreham Airport roundabout, take the 1st exit and follow the road (Beach Green Road) around to the left for around a mile and then after the green turn right onto Beach Road. Follow this east for another mile until you reach ‘kite roundabout’, which is situated on the junction of Old Fort Road and Shingle Road. This stretch of beach is the kite zone… enjoy!