East Sussex, England

Ovingdean put-in

Launch — The slipway lands onto a pebble beach fronted by a chalk wave-cut platform (chalk reef) that is exposed toward the low-water mark.

Parking — Roadside parking on Greenways, the street at the clifftop above the Gap; no capacity or charge is published. The slipway is reached down roughly 70 steps (four flights); the nearest ramp is at Rottingdean, about a 20-minute walk away.

Access — The Undercliff Walk is a free public promenade open at all hours, reached from Marine Drive (A259) by a pedestrian underpass opposite Greenways, or by bus to the "Greenways" stop (routes 12/12A/14/27/47). The Walk needs no permit or booking to reach or use the slipway.

Season — Public toilets at the Gap are open 10am to 6pm in summer (1 April to 30 September) and 10am to 4pm in winter (1 October to 31 March). The council closes the Undercliff Walk, the approach path to the slipway, in sections from time to time when the cliffs above become unstable, most often in cold spells; it has closed stretches for cliff erosion and chalk falls before, including in 2021 and 2023.

Regulations — Brighton & Hove City Council's Bathing and Boating Bylaws set designated bathing areas, including Ovingdean, in which powered and sailing vessels are barred from May to September; the bylaws do not restrict human-powered craft. No launch fee or permit applies to a hand-carried unpowered craft: the council's published seafront charges cover only boat storage, beaching and locking arrangements on the beach, not launching.

This is a concrete slipway onto the open Channel coast on the Undercliff Walk between Brighton Marina and Rottingdean, below the chalk cliffs at Ovingdean. It sits on the seaward side of the promenade with no harbour or breakwater shelter.

A chalk wave-cut platform fronts the beach here, part of a shore platform that runs this stretch of coast from Brighton Marina towards Eastbourne, exposed as rockpools out to roughly 100 to 200 metres at low water. The near-shore water is within the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone, designated in 2013 and covering around 24 square kilometres between Brighton Marina and Beachy Head; the zone protects intertidal chalk and rock habitat, blue mussel beds, native oyster and the short-snouted seahorse.

The cliffs behind the Undercliff Walk are chalk, within the Brighton to Newhaven Cliffs Site of Special Scientific Interest, notified for the fossil record exposed in their faces, an important reference section for Upper Cretaceous chalk fauna. The cliffs are actively eroding, dropping chalk and flint onto the path below from time to time.

Nearby

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The Undercliff Cafe

Cafe on the Undercliff Walk between the slipway and Rottingdean.

Website

Molly's

Cafe on the seafront at Rottingdean, further east along the Undercliff Walk.

Brighton Caravan and Motorhome Club Site

Caravan Club site at Sheepcote Valley, open all year; non-members and tent campers are welcome.

Website

Conditions to check

Shallow or rocky

A chalk wave-cut platform fronts the slipway, extending down to the low-water mark; platforms on this stretch of coast commonly extend between 100 and 200 metres.

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Limited exit

Because the chalk platform is exposed to the low-water mark, returning to the slipway when it is exposed means crossing the platform on foot rather than paddling directly to it.

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Tidal flow

Open Channel coast; the flood tide runs up-Channel from the south-west towards the North Sea and the ebb runs down-Channel from the north-east towards Folkestone, timed off high water at Dover.

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Other

Waves occasionally come over the sea wall onto the Undercliff Walk during high tides and stormy weather.

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