Hampshire, England

Alverstoke put-in (Gosport)

Launch — A concrete slipway down to the beach, one of Gosport Borough Council's public slipways and explicitly listed as suitable for windsurfers and kayaks.

Parking — No. 2 Battery West Car Park adjoins the slipway. Pay-and-display charges apply daily between 8am and 7pm, with motorcycles parking free; a 2.2 metre height barrier controls vehicle access, and the council does not permit vehicles to be slept in overnight.

Access — Reached via Stokes Bay Road; the slipway is listed among the car park's own services, immediately next to it.

Regulations — This stretch of coast lies within the King's Harbour Master (KHM) Portsmouth's Dockyard Port of Portsmouth, which covers most of the eastern Solent; a 10-knot speed limit applies within 1,000 yards of the shore throughout it. Powered personal watercraft need a free KHM licence to launch here or within half a nautical mile of the shore; unpowered kayaks and paddleboards are not subject to that licensing requirement.

This concrete slipway sits at the eastern end of Stokes Bay, part of the Solent just south of Gosport between Portsmouth and Lee-on-the-Solent, near Fort Gilkicker and the Gosport and Stokes Bay Golf Club where the bay meets the approaches to Portsmouth Harbour. Its shingle beach opens south across Spithead to Ryde and East Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Fort Gilkicker and Spithead

Fort Gilkicker, built between 1863 and 1871 to guard the western approaches to Portsmouth Harbour and the Spithead anchorage, stands around three-quarters of a mile south along the point from the slipway. Armed originally with 22 gun emplacements, it stayed in military use through both world wars before falling into disrepair after 1945.

Offshore, the bay looks onto Spithead, the anchorage off Gilkicker Point traditionally used for royal reviews of the fleet, and the wider Solent is a major shipping lane for passenger, freight and military vessels.

Nearby

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Bayside Cabin

Cafe about a mile and a quarter west along Stokes Bay Road.

Kingfisher Caravan Park

Touring caravan and camping park open all year, about a mile and a third from the slipway, alongside static holiday-home hire.

Website

Conditions to check

Boat traffic

This stretch of the Solent is a major shipping lane for passenger, freight and military vessels, and lies within the King's Harbour Master Portsmouth's Dockyard Port, where small craft are required to keep clear of vessels manoeuvring in the navigable channels.

Source

Shallow or rocky

The foreshore here is shingle for the length of the bay, not sand.

Source

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