Bridlington Harbour south slipway
A concrete slipway on the seafront a short walk south of Bridlington Harbour, at the northern end of South Sands. It opens onto Bridlington Bay on the North Sea coast, where the shoreline here is protected by a sea wall and wooden groynes.
Bridlington Bay is a broad indentation on the North Sea coast, sheltered to the north by Flamborough Head, an eight-mile chalk headland whose cliffs expose rock up to 100 million years old and mark a divide in the coast's longshore drift. South of the harbour the shoreline changes character, forming the northern end of the Holderness coast, a stretch of glacial till and boulder clay that erodes faster than almost anywhere else in Europe.
The waters off Flamborough Head are protected as a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest, where the meeting of colder and warmer currents at the 'Flamborough Front' supports harbour porpoises and grey seals, and the cliffs hold one of England's few mainland gannetries alongside colonies of kittiwakes, razorbills and puffins.
Bridlington Harbour, immediately to the north, remains one of England's principal shellfish ports, home to a fleet of potting boats fishing for crab and lobster alongside passenger and angling craft — the working traffic a paddler is likely to see moving in and out of the harbour mouth.
Nearby
Independent coffee shop on South Marine Drive, in the Old Lifeboat Station just south of Bridlington Spa.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council-run park open to the public year-round, with touring and tent pitches, camping pods, and shower/toilet blocks.
WebsiteConditions to check
Bridlington Harbour, immediately north of the slipway, is a working fishing and passenger-boat harbour with vessel movements concentrated at the narrow entrance channel.
SourceSouth Sands is divided by a series of wooden groynes; care is needed to check no one is between the groynes when launching or landing.
SourceWeever fish, which bury in the sand with only the dorsal fin showing and sting painfully if trodden on, and jellyfish, are both present on this stretch of coast.
SourceBridlington is a standard tide port with a large tidal range; spring tides reach around six metres, well above neaps, so much of the beach and foreshore dries out at low water.
SourceQuestions
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