One of the most learner-friendly spots in the south-east: wide, gently-shelving sandy bay facing north. Best in NW, NNW, N, NNE, and NE. No kiting within 2.5 hours either side of high water — effectively no usable beach then; target the falling tide or low water. Flat to small chop. Free street parking as well as a paid car park. Schools: Tide Watersports, Kite Pirates.
Public-model blend: Met Office UKV 2km (direct), Met Office Global 10km (direct), AROME-FR, IFS-HRES, ICON, GFS (via Open-Meteo) and MET Norway, averaged across every model that covers each hour, out to day 7; temperature from the Met Office feeds
Last updated
Page rebuilt: 25 October 2026 16:20 GMT Forecast data: 25 October 2026 15:30 GMT Tide data: 25 October 2026 16:20 GMT
📏 Tide heights — next 7 days(chart datum at Whitstable Approaches)
No measured beach/groyne height for this spot yet — log a beach report to add one.
🧭 Wind directions
Minnis Bay, Birchington, faces ~N/NNE. Onshore NW–NE; HARD NO around high water (no beach). S winds are offshore.
green = works (brightest = side-on) · blue = cross-shore · orange = side-off / unproven (care) · red = offshore, never · grey = excluded locally
Next 7 days at Minnis BayNo kiteable window shows at Minnis Bay in the next 7 days — wrong direction or too light throughout. AROME and UKV 2km agree (within ~3 kt) over the next 60 h — confidence good (lead model here: UKV 2km).
Windguru forecast
7-day forecast
Wind scale:<1010–1112–1314–1516–1920–2930+ kt ⚠
Public-model blend, for the full 7 days: The Met Office UKV 2km and Global 10km runs are read directly from the Met Office open-data feeds; AROME-FR 1.3km, IFS-HRES 9km, ICON and GFS come via Open-Meteo, plus MET Norway. Direction is a circular mean; gusts average only the models that publish an hourly-maximum gust. These numbers are raw model output with no coastal correction, so in the same weather they can read a little lighter than a coastally-corrected forecast — treat them as a floor rather than a ceiling. Temperature is from the Met Office runs (interpolated between 3-hourly steps on later days). No sea-state data is available. Tides from UKHO Admiralty (BST, 7-day window). The Windguru widget above is the unmodified Windguru forecast and is a useful cross-check.
Not kiteable today — wind from SSW. Peak 18 kt from SSW is offshore (blows straight out to sea) at Minnis Bay. Working directions here: NW / NNW / N / NNE / NE.
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.