Kitesurfing Lessons on the South Coast

 

The Kitesurf Centre is located on the south coast of England on the Dungeness peninsular. The Peninsular gives us a great range of beaches to use all facing in different directions within 10 minutes drive of each other, so we have a beach to use for almost any wind direction. It’s no secret that our beaches, Camber Sands and Greatstone are the best and most popular kitesurfing beaches on the south east coast, offering miles of sand, shallow seas and safe conditions perfect for learning kitesurfing and progressing in.

South Coast Weather

Due to the nature of our sports, the weather is very important and we rely heavily on Mother Nature.
We chose Camber Sands as our location because the wind statistics in the South East of the UK are extremely good and the best along the whole of the South and East coast.
The prevailing wind is South Westerly which is a smooth, warm, in a cross-onshore direction providing great conditions for beginners and advanced riders alike.
Throughout an average summer Camber and Greatstone have useable wind on over 80% of the days, a statistic to match any location around the world.
This is reinforced by the fact that the newest UK Wind Farm has recently been built just inland from the beach.  Fortunately it is very very rarely too windy to run kitesurfing lessons.

 

The internet is the most useful and accurate forecasting tool as it is constantly being updated, here are some links to the best sites:

XCweather -Wind forecast and wind history site

Windguru -Wind forecast site (select Camber Sands)

Met Office – Wind and weather forecast (click on either Rye or Lydd)

Live weather - Wind display for Lydd airport- just inland from Camber and Greatstone

Tide timetable - Tidal information (click on Dungeness)

 

 

Our Kitesurf Beaches on the South coast

 

Camber Sands

One of the prime kitesurfing locations in the UK with smooth winds and miles of fantastic sands, kiters travel from all over the UK to use this beach. It has a large tidal range giving miles of flat sand and during certain tide states totally flat shallow pools appear behind the sand bars creating warm, super flat water; the ultimate conditions! We are fortunately enough to be the only school to have a dedicated teaching area. This allows us plenty of space and avoid collisions

 

 

 

 

Greatstone & Littlestone – Dymchurch

 

A somewhat unknown spot that is possibly the best in the UK!
The beach is enormous with no restrictions giving miles and miles of usable safe conditions. It is very shallow shelving creating extremely calm water that is still waist deep even 400m out! Ideal for teaching as there are no waves. The beach is also very popular for landboarding and powerkiting with miles of open sand.

 

 

 

 

 

These are the guidelines regarding kite sports on Camber sands which are posted in the Jury’s Gap car park: Kite sports rules and regulations:

• You should have 3rd party liability insurance to fly your kite • Keep inside the restricted zone shown by the chequered flag and sign 100m to your right and the red flags 800m left • Avoid kitesurfing 2 1/2 hours either side of high tide to avoid hidden groynes • Never launch or land your kite when a member of the public is walking down wind of you. Wait until they have passed. • Never launch and land your kite in between the groynes, carry it to the water’s edge to minimise time flying it on land. If you are new to the sport, launch your kite while standing in the water. • All kites must have an effective safety system and a leash • Kitesurfers who cannot maintain a course across wind should practice downwind of the main crowd • Kites that are not in use for a length of time must have the lines wound up and moved in between the groynes. Kites and lines must not be left out across the path of other beach users • Assist other flyers with launching and landing their kites • When standing on the water’s edge keep your kite low to allow other kitesurfers to pass. • Never kitesurf in offshore winds • If you are unsure of the conditions do not go out

Rules of the road:

• When passing, the upwind rider gives way to the downwind rider by raising their kite to allow the downwind rider to pass underneath. The downwind rider must also lower their kite for safe passing • The starboard tack rider (right leg leading) has right of way over the port tack rider(left leg first) • Maintain a downwind buffer zone when jumping and performing tricks • Always look behind you before starting any manoeuvre or turn • You must give way to riders entering the water

Safety Information for spectators and other beach users:

• Be aware of the kite flyers in this area of the beach • Always stand behind the kite flyer when spectating, kite lines can be very harmful under tension • Bathers must take extreme caution when swimming in this part of the beach • Kite flying can be dangerous, if you are interested in taking up the sport, have lessons