Littlehampton West Beach
Dune-backed sand west of the Arun mouth — quiet, sandy, and with a strong ebb tide to respect.
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● Spot · shaded: the wind directions that work here. It is not a riding area or a permitted kite zone. Two fingers to move the map.
Location & launch
Know before you go.
- Launch
- Sand and shingle west of the Arun harbour mouth, backed by dunes.
- Wind
- E · ESE · SE · SSE · S · SSW · SW · WSW · W winds work here.
The shaded area shows the wind directions recorded as working here. It is not a permitted kite zone or a safe launch boundary. Check local signs.
Local rules, hazards & spot guide
Need to know
The things that catch people out here.
- The Arun harbour mouth beside the beach has a fierce ebb. Stay well west of the training walls.
- West Beach is a nature reserve — keep off the dunes and the vegetated shingle entirely.
- Parking is a walk away and the beach is reached over a footbridge, so it is a faff with a lot of kit.
Conditions
- Best
- Works
- Offshore
- Works in
- E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W
- Best in
- SW, WSW, W
- Offshore (careful)
- N, NNE, NE, WNW, NW, NNW
- Wind quality
- moderate
- Water
- Flat to choppy
- Depth
- standing
- Best tide
- Low to mid
- Spring range
- 5.9 m
Sea breeze · May–Aug
- Beginner
- Good
- Intermediate
- Good
- Advanced
- Workable
Hazards
Most serious first. The level is in words as well as colour.
- high
shipping The River Arun harbour entrance is immediately east, with commercial and fishing traffic and hard training walls.
- high
current The Arun ebb runs very hard out of the harbour mouth.
- medium
wildlife West Beach is a Local Nature Reserve with protected dunes and vegetated shingle.
Access & rules
- Launch
- Sand and shingle west of the Arun harbour mouth, backed by dunes.
- Permit
- Not required
- Insurance
- Third-party liability expected
- Tuition
- Permitted
- Facilities
- toilets
Parking
- Rope Walk / West Beach car park
paid
Safety
Who is around if it goes wrong. None of it makes the water safe.
- Lifeguards
- None
- RNLI
- Littlehampton RNLI
- Nearest A&E
- Worthing Hospital, Worthing (~20 min)
- Water quality
- Designated bathing water — good
The spot
Littlehampton West Beach is a dune-backed stretch of sand and shingle on the western side of the River Arun. It is a nature reserve, considerably quieter than the beaches east towards Worthing, and the sand at lower tides makes it more forgiving than the shingle further along the coast.
The harbour mouth is the hazard. The Arun ebbs hard through a pair of training walls and carries commercial and fishing traffic; stay well west. Access is over a footbridge from the car park, which makes the walk with kit longer than it looks on a map.
Sources
Where this record came from, and how confident we are in it.
- Windfinder — Littlehampton
Checked 2026-09-07 · coordinates, wind
- UK Windsurfing beach guide — Littlehampton West Beach
Checked 2026-09-23 · wind
- BN1 Kitesurfing — Littlehampton West Beach
Checked 2026-09-23 · wind
- Brighton Kitesurf & SUP Academy — Littlehampton West Beach
Checked 2026-09-23 · wind
Verify locally. Coordinates 50.7999, -0.5529. Conditions, access arrangements and beach rules change; check them on the day before you rely on anything on this page.