Pevensey Bay/Cooden

Typical south coast shingle beach with sand at low tide. SE-S facing crescent with easier shorebreak than beaches further west.

Submitted by:
preacherman
Updated:
9th Feb 2005

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There are lots of launch points along the bay, which spans from the Crumbles (the kind of end of Eastbourne) to Cooden. The main launch spots for windsurfers and kiters is either from the car park (Pevensey Bay) or at Cooden, which is further east. The car park is located by a few facilities (toilets, basic shops) and costs £1.20 a day in summer months. It can get crowded on hot days, but on windy days it is rare to not find a space. Usually you can park in the row immediately next to the beach. Rigging is on the shingle and it is not too long a walk to the water even at low tide. Best direction for the car park is SW, but it is fine from W (which gets a bit gusty because of the headland) all the way round S to NE. No part of the bay is OK in a N or NW unless ou're depserate. The car park spot is one of the only sailable beaches in a NE, but its not brilliant. Conditions at the car park are your usual south coast chop and it is fairly good for first timers on the sea. SE winds can bring some OK waves, but SW is good for jumping, but not riding. There is a moveable sandbank that gives Pevensey a sweetspot usually around 1-2 hours each side of low tide. If the wind has more W in it, then head for Cooden. There are no facilities there, but it probably draws the bigger windsurfing and kiting crowd as the chop is bigger and there's generally more room. Park directly on the beach, but don't get bogged down in the shingle. No hazards at any spot along the bay. Plenty of campsites, mainly around Norman's Bay, which sits between the two sites and it looks like you can launch from them quite easily. Some people reckon Pevensey gets the sun when other places are cloudy, which could be true as Beachey Head definately does odd things to the clouds.