Adjacent to East Beach. Reveals ankle- to waist-deep lagoons at low tide — a favourite for freestyle, freeride, and improving riders. Works in W, SW, S, SE, and E. Most riders switch to East Beach as the tide comes in. Butter-flat channels when the banks are exposed. The spot gets busy, and mussel beds mean booties are strongly recommended. Paid Southend Council parking nearby. School: Essex Kitesurf School (mobile, Southend-based).
No measured beach/groyne height for this spot yet — log a beach report to add one.
🧭 Wind directions
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Thorpe Bay/Southend — the classic flat-water spot, faces ~S into the estuary. E-through-W working; N is offshore off the town. Opposite side of the Southend headland to East Beach.
green = works (brightest = side-on) · blue = cross-shore · orange = side-off / unproven (care) · red = offshore, never · grey = excluded locally
Next 7 days at Uncle Tom’s CabinBest of the week: Fri 4 Sep, ~19 kt around 15:00–17:00 BST (GOOD — the 9 m sweet spot) — gusty (+8 kt). Lighter option: Thu 10 Sep ~17 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:<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.
Good session — ~19 kt W in the green window (14:00–15:00 BST). Working direction (W) with ~19 kt for 2 h inside the tide window (14:00–15:05 BST around the low tide). GOOD — the 9 m sweet spot.
Best window detail — 08:34–15:04 BST (UKV 2km hourly)
Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~19 kt in the low-tide window.
TimeWindGustDir
14:00 ★19 ktg26W
15:00 ★20 ktg27W
16:0020 ktg27W
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
14:00
18 kt
26 kt
→ W
100%
22°C
15:00
20 kt
26 kt
→ W
100%
22°C
16:00
19 kt
28 kt
→ W
100%
21°C
17:00
18 kt
24 kt
→ WNW
100%
21°C
18:00
16 kt
22 kt
→ WNW
100%
21°C
19:00
16 kt
22 kt
→ WNW
100%
20°C
20:00
14 kt
19 kt
→ WNW
100%
20°C
21:00
11 kt
18 kt
↘ WNW
—
19°C
Sat 5 Sep
HW 06:30 4.8mLW 12:50 1.5mHW 19:05 5.0m
Marginal — ~11 kt, big kites only. Peak ~11 kt WSW in the tide window. marginal — big kites (15 m+)/foils — most riders won't get planing; 15 m+/foil specialists only.
Best window detail — 09:37–16:07 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.
Marginal — ~11 kt, big kites only. Peak ~11 kt S 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 — 11:11–17:41 BST (UKV 2km hourly)
Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~9 kt in the low-tide window.
Brief peak — under the 2-hour session rule. ~16 kt W 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 19:26 — almost none of this window is in daylight.
Best window detail — 12:48–19:18 BST (UKV 2km hourly)
Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~13 kt in the low-tide window. Late-evening session — fine in summer, but a late drive home from London.
Runs out of daylight — ~17 kt WSW. Working direction (WSW) with ~17 kt for 2 h inside the tide window (05:00–07:55 BST around the low tide). an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end. WSW sits exactly on the line with cross-shore here — a borderline call on a bearing we estimate, so treat it as the more cautious of the two. Early-bird window (low water before 08:30) — fine if you can get there, but on the early side for most. ★ Gets dark at 19:24 — almost none of this window is in daylight.
Best window detail — 14:15–19:30 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
16:00 ★8 ktg12W
19:00 ★14 ktg19WNW
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
16 kt
26 kt
↗ SW
97%
16°C
09:00
13 kt
22 kt
↗ SW
68%
16°C
12:00
15 kt
20 kt
→ WSW
14%
18°C
15:00
14 kt
19 kt
→ W
31%
20°C
18:00
13 kt
17 kt
→ WSW
74%
19°C
Wed 9 Sep
LW 05:50 1.2mHW 12:05 5.3mLW 18:35 0.5m
Marginal — ~11 kt, big kites only. Peak ~11 kt WSW in the tide window. marginal — big kites (15 m+)/foils — most riders won't get planing; 15 m+/foil specialists only.
Runs out of daylight — ~17 kt SW. Working direction (SW) with ~17 kt for 3 h inside the tide window (07:00–10:00 BST around the low tide). an OK session on a 12 m — powered-down at the bottom end. Early-bird window (low water before 08:30) — fine if you can get there, but on the early side for most. ★ Gets dark at 19:20 — 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.
