Spots › Kent
Greatstone (Lade)
One of the finest flat-water spots in south-east England — very shallow, shelving, often butter-flat. Exceptional for learning, freeride, freestyle, and foiling. The only beach on the South Coast that works in a north-easterly. Low tide is the target; competent riders can use most of the tide cycle but beginners should avoid ~90 min either side of HW. School: Infinity Sport Kitesurfing.
💧 Water-quality alert — Littlestone. Increased pollution risk now (increased) — avoid the water. Advisory only — check before you go in.
🌊 Tide & beach state
🚦 Tide zones (daylight, BST): Amber = high tide — you can get out but it's not optimum (wing/foil territory). Green starts the moment the tide leaves the shingle: kite the tide down, through low and back up. Grey = early-morning session. Unusual spot — the tide works the opposite way round to most: green runs right through LOW water.
Fri 04: 06:25–14:55 early session · 14:55–18:15 high tide (wing/foil) · 18:15–19:35 KITE
Sat 05: 06:30–16:55 early session · 16:55–18:40 high tide (wing/foil) · 18:40–19:30 KITE
Sun 06: 06:30–19:25 early session · 19:25–19:30 high tide (wing/foil)
Mon 07: 06:35–07:55 early session · 07:55–09:00 high tide (wing/foil) · 09:00–19:25 KITE
Sat 05: 06:30–16:55 early session · 16:55–18:40 high tide (wing/foil) · 18:40–19:30 KITE
Sun 06: 06:30–19:25 early session · 19:25–19:30 high tide (wing/foil)
Mon 07: 06:35–07:55 early session · 07:55–09:00 high tide (wing/foil) · 09:00–19:25 KITE
🏖️ Beach access: Water at the bottom of the shingle bank. BELOW this is the kite window (unusual spot — opposite of most): the water leaves the shingle onto the flats and you can kite the tide down, right through low and back up, until it returns to the shingle. Above it the water is up on the beach — the high-tide amber period, wing/foil territory rather than prime kiting. Reached when the tide falls below ≈5.97 m (chart datum at Dungeness) · medium confidence.
Enough beach (BST): Fri 04: 00:00–02:25, 05:45–14:55, 18:15–00:00
Sat 05: 00:00–04:10, 05:55–16:55, 18:40–00:00
Sun 06: 00:00–19:25, 19:50–00:00
Mon 07: 00:00–07:55, 09:00–19:55, 22:30–00:00
Sat 05: 00:00–04:10, 05:55–16:55, 18:40–00:00
Sun 06: 00:00–19:25, 19:50–00:00
Mon 07: 00:00–07:55, 09:00–19:55, 22:30–00:00
Built from on-the-beach reports logged by LKSA riders — more reports sharpen these. Tide-only; check wind & daylight too.
📏 Tide heights — next 7 days (chart datum at Dungeness)
| Fri 4 | HW 03:45 6.8m · LW 11:00 2.1m · HW 16:15 6.7m · LW 23:30 2.3m |
| Sat 5 | HW 04:55 6.1m · LW 12:00 2.6m · HW 17:40 6.1m |
| Sun 6 | LW 00:45 2.8m · HW 06:50 5.8m · LW 13:30 2.8m · HW 19:40 6.0m |
| Mon 7 | LW 02:30 2.8m · HW 08:25 6.0m · LW 15:10 2.6m · HW 21:05 6.3m |
| Tue 8 | LW 04:10 2.4m · HW 09:40 6.6m · LW 16:40 2.0m · HW 22:15 6.9m |
| Wed 9 | LW 05:25 1.8m · HW 10:35 7.2m · LW 17:50 1.3m · HW 23:05 7.3m |
| Thu 10 | LW 06:25 1.3m · HW 11:15 7.6m · LW 18:45 0.9m · HW 23:50 7.6m |
Heights vs the measured beach/groyne line ≈5.97 m: green = below (kite window) · amber = at/above (not optimum)
🧭 Wind directions
Greatstone/Littlestone, Dungeness, faces ~ESE/SE. Wide N-through-S onshore arc; N is side-off (Infinity Sport cover). SW–W is offshore over the shingle/Marsh. (Bathing water 'Littlestone' is classified Poor — see water_quality.)
green = works (brightest = side-on) · blue = cross-shore · orange = side-off / unproven (care) · red = offshore, never · grey = excluded locally
Next 7 days at Greatstone (Lade)Lighter option: Sun 6 Sep ~11 kt — marginal — big kites (15 m+)/foils. Models diverge on Sunday: UKV 8 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:
<10
10–11
12–13
14–15
16–19
20–29
30+ 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.
Fri 4 Sep
HW 03:45 6.8m LW 11:00 2.1m HW 16:15 6.7m LW 23:30 2.3m
Not kiteable today — wind from W. Peak 17 kt from W is cross-offshore (side-off) at Greatstone (Lade). Working directions here: N / NNE / NE / ENE / E / ESE ….
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
14:00
15 kt
22 kt
→ WSW
100%
21°C
15:00
17 kt
23 kt
→ W
100%
21°C
16:00
16 kt
24 kt
→ W
100%
22°C
17:00
16 kt
24 kt
→ W
100%
21°C
18:00
14 kt
21 kt
→ W
100%
20°C
19:00
14 kt
20 kt
→ W
100%
20°C
20:00
11 kt
17 kt
→ W
100%
19°C
21:00
10 kt
14 kt
→ W
100%
18°C
Sat 5 Sep
HW 04:55 6.1m LW 12:00 2.6m HW 17:40 6.1m
Not kiteable today — wind from SW. Peak 14 kt from SW is not a working direction at Greatstone (Lade). Working directions here: N / NNE / NE / ENE / E / ESE ….
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
8 kt
12 kt
→ W
44%
13°C
09:00
9 kt
15 kt
↘ NW
29%
17°C
12:00
8 kt
17 kt
→ W
29%
19°C
15:00
14 kt
20 kt
↗ SW
42%
19°C
18:00
11 kt
19 kt
↗ SW
38%
19°C
21:00
6 kt
10 kt
→ W
54%
18°C
Sun 6 Sep
LW 00:45 2.8m HW 06:50 5.8m LW 13:30 2.8m HW 19:40 6.0m
Marginal — ~11 kt, big kites only. Peak ~11 kt SSE in the tide window. marginal — big kites (15 m+)/foils — most riders won't get planing; 15 m+/foil specialists only. ★ Gets dark at 19:28 — almost none of this window is in daylight.
Best window detail — 09:14–17:44 BST (UKV 2km hourly)
Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~8 kt in the low-tide window.
TimeWindGustDir
09:009 ktg13SSE
10:00 ★8 ktg11SSE
11:00 ★8 ktg12SSE
12:00 ★8 ktg12SSE
13:00 ★7 ktg11SSE
14:00 ★9 ktg12SSE
15:00 ★8 ktg11SE
16:00 ★8 ktg11SE
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
11 kt
15 kt
↖ SSE
62%
18°C
09:00
11 kt
16 kt
↖ SSE
53%
18°C
12:00
8 kt
12 kt
↖ SSE
64%
19°C
15:00
8 kt
11 kt
↖ SE
51%
21°C
18:00
9 kt
15 kt
↖ SE
75%
20°C
21:00
9 kt
13 kt
↑ S
100%
19°C
Mon 7 Sep
LW 02:30 2.8m HW 08:25 6.0m LW 15:10 2.6m HW 21:05 6.3m
Not kiteable today — wind from SW. Peak 19 kt from SW is not a working direction at Greatstone (Lade). Working directions here: N / NNE / NE / ENE / E / ESE ….
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
8 kt
12 kt
→ WSW
19%
19°C
09:00
10 kt
18 kt
→ WSW
62%
21°C
12:00
15 kt
26 kt
↗ WSW
88%
21°C
15:00
19 kt
27 kt
↗ SW
99%
20°C
18:00
16 kt
26 kt
→ WSW
64%
19°C
Tue 8 Sep
LW 04:10 2.4m HW 09:40 6.6m LW 16:40 2.0m HW 22:15 6.9m
Not kiteable today — wind from WSW. Peak 22 kt from WSW is cross-offshore (side-off) at Greatstone (Lade). Working directions here: N / NNE / NE / ENE / E / ESE ….
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
12 kt
22 kt
↗ WSW
99%
16°C
09:00
16 kt
26 kt
↗ SW
95%
17°C
12:00
15 kt
31 kt
↗ WSW
46%
19°C
15:00
15 kt
22 kt
↗ WSW
68%
19°C
18:00
16 kt
20 kt
→ WSW
48%
18°C
Wed 9 Sep
LW 05:25 1.8m HW 10:35 7.2m LW 17:50 1.3m HW 23:05 7.3m
Not kiteable today — wind from SW. Peak 18 kt from SW is not a working direction at Greatstone (Lade). Working directions here: N / NNE / NE / ENE / E / ESE ….
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
8 kt
18 kt
→ WNW
—
11°C
09:00
10 kt
19 kt
→ W
16%
15°C
12:00
13 kt
20 kt
→ W
70%
18°C
15:00
17 kt
21 kt
↗ WSW
85%
18°C
18:00
16 kt
21 kt
→ WSW
89%
18°C
Thu 10 Sep
LW 06:25 1.3m HW 11:15 7.6m LW 18:45 0.9m HW 23:50 7.6m
Not kiteable today — wind from SW. Peak 22 kt from SW is not a working direction at Greatstone (Lade). Working directions here: N / NNE / NE / ENE / E / ESE ….
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
07:00
11 kt
14 kt
→ W
100%
15°C
10:00
20 kt
22 kt
↗ SW
100%
17°C
13:00
16 kt
20 kt
↗ SW
99%
18°C
16:00
22 kt
24 kt
↗ SW
100%
18°C
19:00
17 kt
22 kt
↗ SW
99%
17°C
Tide times: UKHO Admiralty predictions via Admiralty Tidal API. Times in BST, rounded to nearest 5 min. Wind & temperature: Windguru multi-model composite (AROME-FR + UKV 2km for the first 60 h, then ICON / Zephr-HD / IFS-HRES / GFS out to day 7). Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Forecast accuracy — forecast vs reality (archive)
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.