Spots › Dorset

Poole Harbour

One of the largest natural harbours in the world and one of the finest kite spots in the UK. Exceptionally sheltered flat water inside the harbour — particularly around Whitley Lake (waist-deep, calm) — outstanding for learning, foiling, and progression. Works in a broad range of directions; use local judgement for the right launch point within the harbour. Rideable at any tide; low tide can be very shallow and muddy in places. About 2 hours from west London — feasible day trip. Schools & shops: Poole Harbour Watersports, Easy Riders, The Watersports Academy, Poseidon Kite School, Flow Watersports.

ParkingLaunch area🚻 Public toilets (Banks Road, by Jazz Café)☕ Jazz Café (Banks Road)🏄 Poole Harbour Watersports — school (opposite Tesco Express)🏄 Easyriders Beach Club🏄 The Watersports Academy (Sandbanks Hotel beach)🏄 Flow Watersports — kitesurf, wing foil, windsurf & SUP school (Banks Road)➤Today's wind direction (WNW ~20 kt at low tide ~15:27 (window 12:27–16:57 BST)) 🚗 Directions • Open in Google Maps: Parking • Launch area • Public toilets (Banks Road, by Jazz Café) • Jazz Café (Banks Road) • Poole Harbour Watersports — school (opposite Tesco Express) • Easyriders Beach Club • The Watersports Academy (Sandbanks Hotel beach) • Flow Watersports — kitesurf, wing foil, windsurf & SUP school (Banks Road)
Region
Dorset
Skill level
Beginner OK (flat water)
Best tide window
Any tide (low can be shallow/muddy in places)
Launch (what3words)
///taken.even.entire — precise launch spot
Windguru
Windguru forecast →
Tide station
Poole Harbour
Tide data
UKHO Admiralty — 7-day coverage (BST)
Wind data
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 Poole Harbour)
Sun 25LW 03:00 0.6m · HW 08:10 2.2m · LW 15:25 0.7m · HW 20:30 2.3m
Mon 26LW 03:40 0.5m · HW 08:50 2.4m · LW 16:05 0.5m · HW 21:10 2.4m
Tue 27LW 04:20 0.5m · HW 09:30 2.4m · LW 16:45 0.5m · HW 21:55 2.4m
Wed 28LW 05:00 0.5m · HW 10:05 2.4m · LW 17:25 0.5m · HW 22:35 2.3m
Thu 29LW 05:40 0.7m · HW 10:45 2.3m · LW 18:05 0.6m · HW 23:20 2.2m
Fri 30LW 06:25 0.8m · HW 11:25 2.2m · LW 18:55 0.8m
Sat 31HW 00:10 2.0m · LW 07:20 1.1m · HW 12:10 2.0m · LW 19:50 0.9m
No measured beach/groyne height for this spot yet — log a beach report to add one.
🧭 Wind directions
Poole Harbour — large enclosed harbour; launch to suit the wind, so a facing bearing does not apply. Broad curated list trusted wholesale.

Next 7 days at Poole HarbourBest of the week: Mon 26 Oct, ~21 kt around 12:00–15:00 BST (GOOD — the 9 m sweet spot) — very gusty (+11 kt), hard work, good kiters only. Lighter option: Tue 27 Oct ~19 kt — an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end. AROME and UKV 2km agree (within ~4 kt) over the next 60 h — confidence good (lead model here: UKV 2km).

Windguru forecast

7-day forecast

Wind scale: <10 10–11 12–13 14–15 16–19 20–29 30+ 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.

Sun 25 Oct

Coef 96 spring LW 03:00 0.6m HW 08:10 2.2m LW 15:25 0.7m HW 20:30 2.3m
Runs out of daylight — ~16 kt W. Working direction (W) with ~16 kt for 2 h inside the tide window (17:00–18:25 BST around the low tide). an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end. ★ Gets dark at 17:53 — almost none of this window is in daylight.
Confidence: looking solid — 94% chance of 12 kt+ in the window · Met Office ensemble, next 54 h
Best window detail — 12:27–16:57 BST (UKV 2km hourly)

Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~20 kt in the low-tide window. Late-evening session — fine in summer, but a late drive home from London.

TimeWindGustDir
12:0017 ktg35WNW
13:00 ★20 ktg32WNW
14:00 ★20 ktg35WNW
15:00 ★21 ktg30WNW
16:00 ★18 ktg31W
17:0017 ktg25W
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
17:00
16 kt
25 kt
→ W
34%
12°C
18:00
16 kt
23 kt
→ W
35%
12°C
19:00
15 kt
22 kt
→ W
44%
12°C
20:00
14 kt
22 kt
→ W
70%
12°C
21:00
14 kt
21 kt
→ W
97%
12°C

Mon 26 Oct

Coef 102 spring LW 03:40 0.5m HW 08:50 2.4m LW 16:05 0.5m HW 21:10 2.4m
Good session — ~20 kt SW in the green window (14:00–17:51 BST). Working direction (SW) with ~20 kt for 6 h inside the tide window (13:05–19:05 BST around the low tide). GOOD — the 9 m sweet spot. There is also a rideable window around the 03:40 low water — evening sessions are the usual London pick. ★ Gets dark at 17:51 — window trimmed to daylight (14:00–17:51 BST); the wind carries on past sunset if you are happy riding into dusk.
Confidence: looking solid — 87% chance of 15 kt+ in the window; 71% it reaches the 9–12 m sweet spot · Met Office ensemble, next 54 h
Best window detail — 13:06–16:56 BST (UKV 2km hourly)

Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~20 kt in the low-tide window. Late-evening session — fine in summer, but a late drive home from London.

TimeWindGustDir
13:0021 ktg32SW
14:00 ★21 ktg31SW
15:00 ★19 ktg30SW
16:00 ★20 ktg29SW
17:0018 ktg29SW
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
17 kt
25 kt
↑ SSW
100%
13°C
09:00
20 kt
32 kt
↑ SSW
100%
15°C
12:00
21 kt
33 kt
↗ SW
99%
16°C
15:00
20 kt
31 kt
↗ SW
94%
17°C
18:00
20 kt
31 kt
↗ SW
94%
16°C
21:00
21 kt
32 kt
↗ SSW
70%
17°C

Tue 27 Oct

Coef 105 spring LW 04:20 0.5m HW 09:30 2.4m LW 16:45 0.5m HW 21:55 2.4m
Runs out of daylight — ~21 kt SSW. Working direction (SSW) with ~21 kt for 3 h inside the tide window (05:00–07:20 BST around the low tide). GOOD — the 9 m sweet spot. Early-bird window (low water before 08:30) — fine if you can get there, but on the early side for most. ★ Gets dark at 17:49 — almost none of this window is in daylight.
Best window detail — 13:44–16:54 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. Late-evening session — fine in summer, but a late drive home from London.

TimeWindGustDir
13:0017 ktg27W
14:00 ★15 ktg25W
15:00 ★15 ktg22W
16:00 ★11 ktg21W
17:008 ktg18W
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
19 kt
36 kt
↗ WSW
95%
15°C
09:00
18 kt
26 kt
→ WSW
56%
14°C
12:00
17 kt
27 kt
→ WSW
15%
14°C
15:00
13 kt
23 kt
→ W
14%
14°C
18:00
10 kt
16 kt
→ W
8%
13°C
21:00
10 kt
15 kt
→ W
8%
12°C

Wed 28 Oct

Coef 104 spring LW 05:00 0.5m HW 10:05 2.4m LW 17:25 0.5m HW 22:35 2.3m
Sub-kiteable — peak only 9 kt. Peak wind only 9 kt from WSW in the tide window. Below the kiteable threshold for almost every rider.
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
8 kt
14 kt
→ WSW
55%
—
09:00
10 kt
18 kt
↗ WSW
64%
—
12:00
11 kt
20 kt
↗ WSW
65%
—
15:00
8 kt
17 kt
↗ WSW
60%
—
18:00
6 kt
10 kt
↗ WSW
53%
—
21:00
4 kt
6 kt
↗ WSW
53%
—

Thu 29 Oct

Coef 101 spring LW 05:40 0.7m HW 10:45 2.3m LW 18:05 0.6m HW 23:20 2.2m
Sub-kiteable — peak only 9 kt. Peak wind only 9 kt from SE in the tide window. Below the kiteable threshold for almost every rider.
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
4 kt
9 kt
← E
97%
—
09:00
7 kt
11 kt
↖ SE
86%
—
12:00
8 kt
12 kt
↖ SE
80%
—
15:00
8 kt
12 kt
↖ SE
89%
—
18:00
8 kt
13 kt
↖ SE
86%
—
21:00
9 kt
13 kt
↖ SE
70%
—

Fri 30 Oct

Coef 95 spring LW 06:25 0.8m HW 11:25 2.2m LW 18:55 0.8m
Sub-kiteable — peak only 7 kt. Peak wind only 7 kt from SSE in the tide window. Below the kiteable threshold for almost every rider.
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
6 kt
11 kt
↖ SSE
97%
—
09:00
7 kt
14 kt
↑ SSE
95%
—
12:00
8 kt
15 kt
↑ S
94%
—
15:00
7 kt
13 kt
↑ SSE
92%
—
18:00
6 kt
11 kt
↖ SSE
90%
—
21:00
6 kt
11 kt
↖ SSE
94%
—

Sat 31 Oct

Coef 85 big HW 00:10 2.0m LW 07:20 1.1m HW 12:10 2.0m LW 19:50 0.9m
Sub-kiteable — peak only 7 kt. Peak wind only 7 kt from N in the tide window. Below the kiteable threshold for almost every rider.
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
8 kt
13 kt
↓ N
82%
—
09:00
9 kt
16 kt
↓ N
69%
—
12:00
10 kt
17 kt
↓ NNE
57%
—
15:00
8 kt
16 kt
↓ NNE
59%
—
18:00
7 kt
15 kt
↓ N
47%
—
21:00
6 kt
14 kt
↓ N
31%
—
Tide times: UKHO Admiralty predictions via Admiralty Tidal API. Times in BST, rounded to nearest 5 min. Wind: public-model blend — Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC-BY 4.0; UKMO substream CC-BY-SA 4.0). Met Office UKV 2km and Global 10km via the Met Office AWS Open Data buckets (CC BY-SA 4.0, © Crown copyright). Models: Met Office, ECMWF, NOAA, DWD, Meteo-France. Data from MET Norway (CC-BY 4.0 / NLOD 2.0). Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The wind and temperature figures on this page are a derivative of Met Office open data (UKV 2km and Global 10km via the Met Office AWS Open Data programme, and the UKMO substream of Open-Meteo), and are therefore published under CC BY-SA 4.0. © Crown copyright, Met Office. Model credits: Met Office, ECMWF, NOAA, DWD, Météo-France. Data from MET Norway; weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
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.

Full wind analysis — all spots →

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.