Wide flat west-facing sand beach on The Wash — one of the UK's classic kitesurfing and kite-buggy beaches, with miles of room at lower tides. Launch on the sand to the left of the RNLI building. Rideable on most tides; little beach left at high water on big springs, and the cliffs make it gusty at high water in a SW. Over 2.5 h from London — not a day-trip spot for most.
ParkingLaunch area➤Today's wind direction (SW ~16 kt at low tide ~15:05 (window 12:05–18:05 BST))🚗 Directions • Open in Google Maps: Parking • Launch area
Region
Norfolk
Skill level
Intermediate+ (big open beach; gusty at HW in SW)
Best tide window
All states; little beach at HW on big springs — watch mussel beds/stakes by the cliff at low
Bathing water
The bathing water at Hunstanton (Old Hunstanton) is rated Good. (EA)
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: 12 September 2026 18:59 BST Forecast data: 12 September 2026 17:17 BST Tide data: 12 September 2026 18:58 BST
📏 Tide heights — next 7 days(chart datum at Hunstanton)
No measured beach/groyne height for this spot yet — log a beach report to add one.
🧭 Wind directions
Old Hunstanton — a rare WEST-facing east-coast beach, faces ~WNW into the Wash. Onshore SW-through-N (via W); E is offshore over the land. FAR spot (data only).
green = works (brightest = side-on) · blue = cross-shore · orange = side-off / unproven (care) · red = offshore, never · grey = excluded locally
Next 7 days at Old HunstantonBest of the week: Thu 17 Sep, ~16 kt around 09:00–12:00 BST (an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end) — gusty (+10 kt). Lighter option: Fri 18 Sep ~15 kt — an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end. 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.
Marginal — ~14 kt, big kites only. Peak ~14 kt WSW in the tide window. marginal — larger kites (14 m+) — most riders won't get planing; 15 m+/foil specialists only. ★ Gets dark at 19:16 — almost none of this window is in daylight.
Best window detail — 12:05–18:05 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.
Marginal — ~10 kt, big kites only. Peak ~10 kt SW in the tide window. marginal — big kites (15 m+)/foils — most riders won't get planing; 15 m+/foil specialists only.
Best window detail — 13:06–19:06 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. Late-evening session — fine in summer, but a late drive home from London.
Marginal — ~11 kt, big kites only. Peak ~11 kt W in the tide window. marginal — big kites (15 m+)/foils — most riders won't get planing; 15 m+/foil specialists only.
Best window detail — 13:31–19:16 BST (AROME-FR 1.3km hourly)
Hourly AROME-FR 1.3km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~11 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 (14:15–20:15 BST around the low tide). an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end. There is also a rideable window around the 04:55 low water — evening sessions are the usual London pick.
Brief peak — under the 2-hour session rule. ~15 kt WSW in the tide window but the ≥15 kt stretch lasts under 2 hours — not a full session for a long drive; locals already nearby might grab it. ★ Gets dark at 19:04 — almost none of this window is in daylight.
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.
