Lowestoft

About Lowestoft

Lwestoft 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.

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:

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.

• Freestyle
• Wave

Launching & Landing

Lowestoft Beach

Local Dangers

Wooden Groyne Sea defences

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 su

Piers

Lowestoft has 2 Piers, the Claremont Pier, and the South Pier obvious hazards should you drift downwind into them.
The width of Lowestoft be

Rips

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 ge

Local Parking

20m from beach

Pay and display car park 20m from beach

Free parking 50m from beach.

Free parking 50m from beach. Safe Parking directly outside KiteboardingUK.com shop which is watched by CCTV.

Life Guard & Coast Guard

Life Guard

Along the beach