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Shoreham Beach

Lancing's harder-edged neighbour: steeper, deeper and more powerful, with a working harbour entrance to stay clear of.

Shoreham & Lancing · West SussexDirections

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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
Steep shingle bank west of the harbour arm, onto sand at lower tides.
Wind
E · ESE · SE · SSE · S · SSW · SW · WSW · W winds work here.
Tide
Best two to three hours either side of low water.

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 harbour entrance is right there. Commercial ships use it and the arms create hard, unforgiving obstacles — stay west.
  • Steep shelving means deep water quickly and a heavier shore dump than Lancing. Not the place for a first independent session in winter.
  • In summer the gentler winds and steep beach actually make this quite friendly; the reputation comes from what it's like in a January south-westerly.

Conditions

NESW
  • Best
  • Works
  • Offshore
Works in
E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W
Best in
SW, WSW
Offshore (careful)
N, NNE, NE, ENE, NW, NNW
Wind quality
moderate
Water
Choppy
Depth
deep
Best tide
Low to mid
Spring range
6 m

Tide rule

Best two to three hours either side of low water.

Sea breeze · May–Aug

Beginner
Workable
Intermediate
Good
Advanced
Ideal

Summer is beginner-friendly; winter is a different beach entirely.

Hazards

Most serious first. The level is in words as well as colour.

  • high

    groynes Groynes along the beach, submerged at high water.

  • high

    shipping Shoreham Harbour entrance is immediately east. Commercial traffic uses it — stay well clear of the harbour arms and the approach channel.

  • medium

    shore break The beach shelves steeply, so shore break is heavier than at Lancing.

Access & rules

Launch
Steep shingle bank west of the harbour arm, onto sand at lower tides.
Self launch
Manageable, but the steep shingle and limited space at high water make it harder than Lancing.
Permit
Not required
Insurance
Third-party liability expected
Tuition
Permitted
Facilities
toilets, cafe

Parking

  • Shoreham Beach roadside and Ferry Road

    mixed

Safety

Who is around if it goes wrong. None of it makes the water safe.

Lifeguards
None
RNLI
Shoreham Harbour RNLI
Nearest A&E
Worthing Hospital, Worthing (~18 min)
Water quality
Designated bathing water — good

The spot

Shoreham Beach sits on the shingle spit between the Adur and the sea, immediately west of Shoreham Harbour. It is the same coast as Lancing but a materially different spot: steeper shelving, deeper water close in, and a heavier shore break.

Through the summer, gentler winds and the steep beach make it surprisingly approachable. Through the winter it becomes the spot Sussex riders go to when they want to be properly powered, and it demands the experience to match.

The harbour entrance to the east is the hard boundary. It carries commercial traffic and its arms are concrete. Stay west of it, and treat the submerged groynes at high water the same way you would at Lancing.

Links & local

Schools & shops nearby

Nearby alternatives

Other launches around Shoreham & Lancing, with different conditions.

  • Lancing Beach

    The South Coast's main teaching beach — gently shelving, sandy at low tide, and busy with schools.

Sources

Where this record came from, and how confident we are in it.

Confidence: medium · 2 independent sources · status needs-review · updated 2026-09-07

Verify locally. Coordinates 50.8271, -0.2675. Conditions, access arrangements and beach rules change; check them on the day before you rely on anything on this page.