Iconic long sandy beach near Rye — the spiritual home of UK kitesurfing. Works in ESE through WSW with S–SW the classic directions. Tide is critical: mid to low is the target — absolutely no kiting within 2.5 hours either side of HW, when the beach disappears against the sea wall. Mix of flat sections, bump-and-jump, and small waves depending on wind angle. Can get busy at weekends. Schools: The Kitesurf Centre, Camber Kitesurfing.
Multi-model composite: AROME-FR 1.3km + UKV 2km own the first 60 h; ICON / Zephr-HD / IFS-HRES / GFS extend to the end of day 7
Last updated
Page rebuilt: 4 September 2026 13:13 BST Forecast data: 4 September 2026 13:04 BST Tide data: 4 September 2026 13:11 BST
🌊 Tide & beach state
🚦 Tide zones (daylight, BST):Red = NO KITING — over high tide the water covers the groynes and the beach goes narrow (no-kiting zone). Green = kite the tide down, through low and back up. Grey = early-morning session.
Fri 04:06:25–06:40 NO KITING·06:40–14:15 KITE·14:15–19:10 NO KITING·19:10–19:35 KITE Sat 05:06:30–07:20 NO KITING·07:20–15:45 KITE·15:45–19:30 NO KITING Sun 06:06:30–08:45 NO KITING·08:45–17:35 KITE·17:35–19:30 NO KITING Mon 07:06:35–10:35 NO KITING·10:35–18:55 KITE·18:55–19:25 NO KITING
🏖️ Beach access:About 40 m of dry beach available to rig (water has dropped below this height). Reached when the tide falls below ≈5.23 m (chart datum at Dungeness) · provisional (1 report).
Heights vs the measured beach/groyne line ≈5.23 m: green = below (kite window) · red = at/above (NO KITING)
🧭 Wind directions
Camber Sands faces ~SSE. Onshore ESE-through-SW; HARD NO around high water (sea wall). NE–N is offshore over the dunes.
green = works (brightest = side-on) · blue = cross-shore · orange = side-off / unproven (care) · red = offshore, never · grey = excluded locally
Next 7 days at Camber SandsBest of the week: Thu 10 Sep, ~20 kt around 16:00–18:00 BST (GOOD — the 9 m sweet spot). Also kiteable: Sat 5 Sep (~17 kt), Mon 7 Sep (~19 kt), Tue 8 Sep (~17 kt). Models diverge on Sunday: UKV 9 kt vs AROME 14 kt — lower confidence; lead model here is AROME (this spot sits close to France — locals rate it), check both before driving.
Windguru forecast
7-day forecast
Wind scale:<1010–1112–1314–1516–1920–2930+ kt ⚠
Multi-model composite: the first 60 hours come from AROME-FR 1.3km and UKV 2km (AROME first, UKV filling its gaps); beyond 60 h the best available of HARM-DK 2km → ICON 2.2km → Zephr-HD 2.6km → IFS-HRES 9km → GFS 13km extends the table to the end of day 7. Temperature blended from GFS. Tides from UKHO Admiralty (BST, 7-day window). Always verify on Windguru.
Marginal — ~12 kt, big kites only. Peak ~12 kt W in the tide window. marginal — big kites (15 m+)/foils — most riders won't get planing; 15 m+/foil specialists only. ★ Gets dark at 19:32 — almost none of this window is in daylight.
Best window detail — 08:02–14:02 BST (UKV 2km hourly)
Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~14 kt in the low-tide window.
TimeWindGustDir
14:00 ★14 ktg18WSW
15:0017 ktg21W
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
14:00
14 kt
20 kt
→ WSW
100%
21°C
15:00
17 kt
22 kt
→ W
100%
22°C
16:00
18 kt
23 kt
→ W
100%
22°C
17:00
17 kt
23 kt
→ WNW
100%
21°C
18:00
14 kt
20 kt
→ W
100%
20°C
19:00
14 kt
20 kt
→ W
100%
19°C
20:00
13 kt
18 kt
→ W
100%
18°C
21:00
12 kt
16 kt
→ W
100%
18°C
Sat 5 Sep
HW 04:55 6.1mLW 12:00 2.6mHW 17:40 6.1m
OK session — ~16 kt SW in the green window (14:00–15:00 BST). Working direction (SW) with ~16 kt for 2 h inside the tide window (09:00–15:00 BST around the low tide). an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end.
Best window detail — 09:01–15:01 BST (UKV 2km hourly)
Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~10 kt in the low-tide window.
OK session — ~19 kt SW in the green window (14:00–18:00 BST). Working direction (SW) with ~19 kt for 5 h inside the tide window (12:10–18:10 BST around the low tide). an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end.
Best window detail — 12:11–18:11 BST (UKV 2km hourly)
Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~18 kt in the low-tide window.
OK session — ~17 kt WSW in the green window (18:00–19:00 BST). Working direction (WSW) with ~17 kt for 2 h inside the tide window (13:40–19:00 BST around the low tide). an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end. ★ Gets dark at 19:24 — you are riding the last of the light.
Best window detail — 13:40–19:29 BST (UKV 2km hourly)
Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~16 kt in the low-tide window. Late-evening session — fine in summer, but a late drive home from London.
OK session — ~16 kt WSW in the green window (15:00–18:00 BST). Working direction (WSW) with ~16 kt for 4 h inside the tide window (14:50–19:00 BST around the low tide). an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end.
Good session — ~20 kt SW in the green window (16:00–19:00 BST). Working direction (SW) with ~20 kt for 6 h inside the tide window (15:45–19:00 BST around the low tide). GOOD — the 9 m sweet spot. ★ Gets dark at 19:20 — you are riding the last of the light.
Pick a past day to compare three things: the forecast we published (frozen before each hour, never revised afterwards), the wind that actually happened (Open-Meteo reanalysis, hours 05:00–21:00 UK), and what the live weather stations near the spot actually recorded (amber, from 2 Aug 2026). You can go right up to today — today shows the forecast and the live stations; the reanalysis for today lands tomorrow morning.
Important: Forecasts are model-derived and may change. Always verify on Windguru and check local tide tables before you go. LKSA accepts no liability for decisions made based on this forecast.
