Blog

Calshot Beach is a great location for learning to Wingsurf, Kitesurf, Windsurf, SUP & Kayak with a variety of sailing conditions from butter flat water behind the shingle bars at mid-low water, right through to rolling swell at high tide on the Solent.

You can build your skills up in the sheltered corner of Calshot spit before challenging yourself on the Solent right outside 24-7 Boardsports!

The Solent has two high tides, it is best to go out an hour before the first high to get maximum time on the water and avoid hitting the muddy floor in the lagoon or the sharp shingle banks on the Solent side of the beach. 

Beware that the water can go out quickly so be sure that you can make it back to the beach before getting stick in the mud.

Checkout a wealth of tide and wind information at Bramblemet and ABP the port authority for Southampton. We also sell the physical tide table in store.

To get an overall picture of what is happening across the Solent checkout Windycator.

Take note that the tide comes in at Calshot slightly earlier than at Southampton docks!

The general sea state depends on the wind direction and also the state of tide:

• At lowish tides there is an area of flat water off the beach which begins to lump up as you get further out.
• At high tide the water state can be quite lumpy but there is little in the way of shore break provided that you chose you’re launch point carefully.
• As the tide turns against wind the water can become quite confused and choppy making sailing quite challenging.
• The Bramble bank out in the middle of the Solent can give some quite large waves but you will have to ride over the shipping channel to reach it.
• There is a wide variety of different sea states allowing you to use anything between flat water and moderate rolling swell if you know where to find it.