Lowestoft
Is the most easterly point of England, and there are only 3 seriously cool things that make Lowestoft so famous. No 1. KiteboardingUK.com the hottest, raddest kite club in the UK. No 2. Lowestoft seafront 2 day Air show/”King of the Sky” kite comp. No 3. The Darkness and the latter is very questionably! There is so much wind on the east coast that they are building wind farms in the local harbour for local offshore wind farms. Soon Lowestoft will also have its own wind turbine and it will be the biggest in Europe. Very handy for those local wind checks.
Kiteboarding at this location is only permitted from September to May only.
Kiteboarding is restricted in the summer months as with a high tourist levels and sunbathers. Safe launching and landing is impossible. So during summer months it’s a pretty much a no go area.
In spring and autumn and winter you can kiteboard on Lowestoft main beach but you must consult the Beach Warden/Life Guard. Considering that the location we rig up in and launch from is directly in front of the life guard’s hut, which is where the lifeguards are based, it’s generally not a problem. However beach walkers and dog walkers are in abundance so care is needed and also this area. Lowestoft has wooden groyne sea defences so be careful don’t go out to overpowered and certainly extra care is needed on cross-onshore winds as the escape routes to the beach become very narrow and there is a very good chance you kite will land or ride onto the groynes. If you see a kite go down and it doesn’t relaunch and the kiteboarder is swimming in, get ready to assist him or her because they will need your help to save that kite. It also has a large protruding wooden pier called the “Claremont Pier”. Further North is the “South Pier” a concrete build pier. Always consider which direction is downwind, if it takes you in the direction of the piers, it’s most definitely a better idea to kiteboard at the Pakefield beach kite zone.
Lowestoft Wind Directions:
Works on all winds from north to east to south. Forget the SW winds,
North = Cross shore
North East = Cross onshore
East = Onshore
South East = Cross onshore
South = Cross shore
Anything with westerly in it is, offshore.
Southerly Sea breezes on hot days in the summer with any southerly forecast
The Beach:
The beach at Lowestoft has pure golden sand, no pebbles or shingle until you get to Pakefield. The beach has been an award winning Blue flag beach for many years now, including good water quality. So very little pollution at this location. It’s also extremely popular as a public beach and is very crowded during the summer months will full lifeguard service and numerous lifeguard stations align the beach. Along with restricted zoning for swimmers.
Hazards:
Wooden Groyne Sea defences, about 100m apart. Along all of Lowestoft beach to the start of Pakefield beach. At low tide the wooden groynes are dry but a high tide they are surrounded by water. There is a high potential for a bad accident at this location because of these wooden groynes.
In winter rips can be a problem, when you kiteboard this location it is important that you know the state of tide and which direction the general rip/water is travelling.
Lowestoft has 2 Piers, the Claremont Pier, and the South Pier obvious hazards should you drift downwind into them.
The width of Lowestoft beach is about 150m after that its high banks and concrete walls therefore some care is needed if you are rigging up and launching close to these banks and concrete walls.
Generally, it’s not a problem as the beach itself is perfectly clean golden sand and everybody rigs up by the water edge far away from this hazard.
Good points:
At low tide, a great shallow low tide pool appears. Perfectly flat water, very shallow, great fun, watch out for the face plants.
Small waves the 2-3 ft size are generally about on the inside section at most stages of the tide depending upon weather/swell conditions.
There are also outer sandbanks at Lowestoft which effectively block a lot of the swell therefore reducing the wave interference. The banks (experts only) are great to ride out too. They are about 1 mile offshore, so you really need to have a rescue craft of some kind to go with you. Once on the offshore sand banks you will find an abundance of surfable waves all shapes and sizes, larger waves on bigger swells. Can be fun, but extreme caution is needed due to distance from the beach.
Facilities:
Pay and display car park 20m from beach, free parking 50m from beach.
Safe Parking directly outside KiteboardingUK.com shop which is watched by CCTV.
Public Toilets are available on sea front.
Cafés and Restaurants close by.
Life Guard hut with beach warden all year round directly by kite zone.
KiteboardingUK.com Kite shop 100m from beach.
Bed and breakfast everywhere on the sea front.
Bars and nightclubs overlook beach. Try out the Edge bar (Claremont pier) and then end up in the night club The Harbour, upstairs (older crowd) or Hanks on the sea front (younger crowd)
Accommodation:
Numerous Bed and Breakfasts line the Marine parade most have sea views there are even bigger hotels which directly overlook the beach.
Price on average between £12-£19 per night per person.
KiteboardingUK.com from summer 04 will also be supplying accommodation for students on their Training courses. At the shop location.
Pakefield
Is ½ mile south of Lowestoft’s Claremont pier and is a Waveney District Council/KiteboardingUK.com approved Kite Zone it starts at the last wooden groyne at Lowestoft and goes onto to Kessingland beach. There is a large car park above this spot and a pub called the Jolly Sailors close by with a good view point. Again its work on all the same conditions as Lowestoft beach. Its pretty much were we kiteboard when Lowestoft if full with tourists and sunbathers during the summer season. And the summer season kite ban is on from June to September.
Kessingland
Is the jewel in the crown. 3 miles south of Lowestoft. It is our premier kite zone on the east coast. It’s also KiteboardingUK’s/WDCouncils approved teaching/ kite zone. This is a scrub, barren beach of huge proportion and can accommodate many kiteboarders, comfortably.
Works on all winds from north to east to south. Forget the SW winds,
North = Cross shore
North East = Cross onshore
East = Onshore
South East = Cross onshore
South = Cross shore
Can sometimes work well on some north westerlies but not too often.
In the summer, sea breezes galore. If the wind is forecast south westerly or any other southerly direction, on the hot summer you will be guaranteed a 12mph to 14mph sea breeze of a southerly direction. It will actually turn and bend those forecast SW wind into southerly. And the sea breezes this year are working already in May. We have just had some classic mellow sessions with 17- 20m kites.
Anything with westerly is generally gusty and poor, blowing offshore.
Good points:
No wooden groyne sea defences, its all kite zone with a large shallow pool which forms at low tide its about 3 x the size of Lowestoft’s low tide pool and is perfect for beginner to intermediates, great for flat water riding. Kessingland also has a well documented surf spot with some great sandbars its slightly further down from the kite training zone, producing classic wave conditions. When the swells are up and the wind is right we are on it.
Very few tourists, dog walkers, just kiters, friends and family.
Its patrolled by a beach warden, keeping the law! And is watched closely by a coastguard watch tower just north of the beach.
KiteboardingUK.com has its club day here on Sunday’s weather permitting, with free Jet Ski assistance for beginners.
There are strict rules and regulations for kiteboarding at this location. Check out KiteboardingUK.com for more info.
Kessingland has “buggy beach” a grassland section for kitebuggying and landboarding its ¼ mile south of the kite zone.
Bad points:
Its quite a trek, from the car to the kite zone. You take everything you need in one go.
There are strict rules and regulations for kiteboarding at this location. Check out KiteboardingUK.com for more info.
Facilities: None you simply walk down the cliffs make your way across the beach and stay there for the whole day. A short walk from this location, there are shops, restaurants and a pub but it’s pretty much a 10 minute hike.
Accommodation:
There are nearby numerous holiday camps with mobile homes as well a chalet style accommodation. The Haven holiday camp actually backs onto the “buggy beach” location which has a large grassland area for kitebuggying and land boarding.
Walberswick.
Walberswick is 30 minutes drive south of Lowestoft. It’s the beach we go to when it is South Westerly as it is a lot closer than Hunstanton which is a good 1.5 hours drive North which is the other location which can be kiteboardered on a South West wind.
There is a small bridge you drive over into the car park. Then a short walk and you’re on the beach… All the kiters walk as far south as possible to avoid all the tourists in the summer months in the winter its very quite….The other reason for walking further south to start is it has a pier at the end of the beach Southwold pier and this poses an obvious obstruction on south and South westerly winds. And remember South West at this location is pretty much cross shore but even the slightest amount of west wind turns it offshore so be very careful and watch the wind closely coz if you drop that kite and don’t relaunch you aren’t coming back to the beach.
Works on all winds from north east to south west. Forget the WSW winds,
North East = Cross shore
East = Cross onshore
South East = Onshore
South West = Cross shore
Haven’t found any accommodation but then we never really looked if its there it will be expensive as it’s a Londoners second home bolt hole. Great pub with great food is the Sailors I believe its call that anyway nearest pub to the beach.
Good Points.
Great Beach for wave action and they get pretty clean here and its hold a big swell.
Bad Points.
Tourists in the summer, you have to walk along way south to avoid them. The pier is an obvious hazard that has caught a few out.
