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Lancing Beach

flat waterbeginner-friendlymedium crowds

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

On this page

Wind
- Month by month
Forecast
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
- Rescue
Hazards
Rules & access
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos

Lancing Beach has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance

SeasonMar to Octthe months riders and schools name How windy20-25 knotsmixed Launchmediumaccess rules on record, below Waterflat/chop/small waves17°C in summer · 10 things riders flag LevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools3named at this spot From the airport60 min

When it fills in

Sea-breeze days fill in through the afternoon. The exact onset hour is unconfirmed.

Lancing sits on the English Channel between Worthing and Shoreham, west of Brighton, and it is one of the few south-coast beaches with a signed kitesport zone: separate teaching and freeride areas, with swimming zones you have to stay out of. Read the signs before you rig.

The beach is pebble and shingle up top and sandier as the tide drops, and the first 100 m or so is shallow around low water, which is why nearly every lesson runs in that window. High tide is the problem.

The launch shrinks, the groynes go under and stop being visible, and you end up sharing a narrow strip with everyone else on the beach. Wind is a mix of SW frontal systems and sunny-day sea breezes, and the kite season is usually given as May to October even though the stronger winds come outside it.

Anything with a northerly component is offshore and not worth the drive. It works for beginners taking lessons and for intermediates who want chop and the odd small wave; if you want real waves or space at high water, go somewhere else.

The wind

Direction

cross-onSW

Kite sizes

4567891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

fills in: Sea-breeze days fill in through the afternoon. The exact onset hour is unconfirmed.

Typical strength

Summer sea breezes run around 20-25 knots at least three days a week in season, and ranges as wide as 15-35 knots get quoted for the year. Neither figure comes from an official climatology, so treat both as indicative.

Generally usable in sea breeze and frontal SW winds, but northerly/offshore components are unsuitable and groyne/high-tide constraints affect session quality.

The kite season starts in May and runs through October; the prevailing SW wind blows year-round with most wind from October to March. The South Coast also gets summer sea breezes boosted by the land/sea temperature contrast and South Downs topography.

The quiver, in words

The most used kite size is 9 m for a 70 kg rider, with 5-12 m advised.

Direction to shore

Side-onshore in the prevailing SW. The rideable arc runs roughly WSW through ESE, or anything without a northerly component.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan65
Feb76
Mar, riders' month71
Apr, riders' month64
May, riders' month51
Jun, riders' month57
Jul, riders' month65
Aug, riders' month56
Sep, riders' month50
Oct, riders' month74
Nov72
Dec71

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.

15Jan9°
15Feb8°
14Mar9°
14Apr11°
11May14°
12Jun17°
13Jul18°
12Aug19°
12Sep19°
14Oct16°
15Nov13°
16Dec10°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	65%	14.6 kt	WSW	5.5°C	8.5°C
Feb	76%	15.3 kt	WSW	7.5°C	8.3°C
Mar	71%	14.1 kt	SW	8°C	8.7°C
Apr	64%	13.6 kt	SW	9.4°C	10.7°C
May	51%	11.3 kt	WSW	12.9°C	13.9°C
Jun	57%	11.8 kt	WSW	15.9°C	16.8°C
Jul	65%	13 kt	WSW	17.6°C	18.4°C
Aug	56%	12.2 kt	WSW	18.1°C	19.4°C
Sep	50%	12.1 kt	SW	16.1°C	18.7°C
Oct	74%	14 kt	SW	13.9°C	16.2°C
Nov	72%	15.4 kt	SW	9.6°C	12.9°C
Dec	71%	15.6 kt	WSW	7.2°C	9.9°C

modelled

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

flat/chop/small waves

Standing depth

About 100 m of shallow water at low tide, which is where the lessons happen.

Tides

Best around low tide, roughly two hours either side of low tide; groynes are more visible and the launch is smaller at high tide.

Temperature

17°C summer · 7°C winter

Wetsuit

3/2 or 4/3 in summer conditions; 5/4 or 6/5/4 with hood, boots and gloves in late winter, based on South Lancing sea-temperature and spot-guide wetsuit advice.

8–19°C water

Pebble and shingle up the beach, sandier as the tide drops. Flat to choppy in summer, small waves in winter, and often flat with light chop.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced

Beginners can learn here with a school inside the low-tide window, and intermediates get chop and small waves. Independent beginners still have to respect the kitesport zone and the swim zones.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridewaveslearning with a schoolflat water at low tidesmall wavessea-breeze sessions

An active club and three schools, riders from West Sussex, Brighton and Worthing, plus London day-trippers whenever the forecast lands on a weekend. Busiest May to October.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

3 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: medium

access rules on record

Somewhere else

No neighbour on record

No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.

Rescue

2026: there are no lifeguards on this coast. Coastal Wardens patrol the Worthing frontage year-round and the Ferring-to-Widewater stretch, which takes in Lancing, seasonally from May to September, on all-terrain vehicles and with a rescue watercraft in high season. In an emergency they call 999 and ask for the Coastguard, and so should you. Throwlines and lifebelts are mounted along the seafront, and the Coastal Office on 01903 238977 will demonstrate how to use one. Nothing kite-specific: no club boat, no on-water cover.

Launch

Launch from the beach within the signed kite zones; there are separate teaching and freeride zones, and the launch is pebbly at high tide and sandier around low tide.

Space

medium

Rules & access

2026: on Adur and Worthing beaches, windsurfing and kitesurfing are permitted except inside designated swimming zones; keep clear of the swim-zone buoys and of bathers, and do not use the buoys in manoeuvres. Lancing Beach has a designated kitesports zone, and kiteboarding is prohibited on green open spaces. Do not lay gear out on the busy upper beach in season. Parking is in the car park only, with a day ticket from the machine, and not on any part of the beach. The swim-zone buoys are removed in winter, but swimmers are in the water year-round: launch and land in the same place.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Rider tips

Read the beach signs before rigging. Teaching zone, freeride zone and swim zone are marked separately.
Plan a first session for the two hours either side of low tide, not high water.
Never launch from the green open space, even if someone else is rigging on it. Kiteboarding there is prohibited (2026).
Bring boots for the wet shingle. A 9 m covers most days at 70 kg, with 5-12 m the useful spread.
Keep clear of the swim-zone buoys. They come off the beach in winter; the swimmers do not.

Getting there

Airport

London Gatwick is the nearest major airport, about 50 km from the beach.

Route

Adur and Worthing are served by trains from Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth, Southampton and London; main local stations include Lancing, Shoreham-by-Sea and Worthing. Lancing is about 90 minutes by train from London Victoria and 1h30 by car from central London.

Transfer

60 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Stay in Lancing, Worthing, Shoreham-by-Sea or Brighton. Nothing kite-specific is confirmed.

No-wind days

Brighton and Worthing seafronts, South Downs walks, Shoreham River Adur SUP options and general Sussex coast attractions.

Photos

Lancing shingle beach with kites visibly flying over the sea in the distance — Paul Gillett / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Last updated: August 2026