Isle of Wight, England

Gurnard put-in

Launch — A concrete slipway leading onto the sand-and-shingle upper beach, owned and maintained by Isle of Wight Council and classified on the council's public slipways register as a "Good boat launching site"; the slipway is shallow, and the adjoining steps have handrails.

Parking — Pay-and-display parking runs along Prince's Esplanade immediately behind the beach; Gurnard Sailing Club has confirmed there is no on-site parking at the slipway. Two disabled parking bays sit on a flat tarmac area leading onto the Esplanade.

Access — Reached on foot via Shore Road and Prince's Esplanade; barriers at each end of the Esplanade keep out vehicles but allow wheelchairs and push chairs, and pedestrians and cyclists can use it freely. No booking requirement or opening-hours restriction applies to the slipway itself.

Season — Dogs are excluded from part of the beach between 1 May and 30 September, with assistance dogs excepted. The public toilets above the beach are serviced through the summer season, though the council has not published exact opening dates.

Regulations — Gurnard Bay lies outside Cowes Harbour Commission's jurisdiction, which under the Cowes Harbour Revision Order 2012 ends at Egypt Point to the east; the harbour's 6-knot no-wash limit therefore does not extend into the bay. No licence, registration or byelaw requiring unpowered craft to register before launching was found, and no conservation designation carries an on-water restriction here.

Gurnard Bay is a gently curving stretch of the Solent shore about 2 km long, running between Gurnard Head and Egypt Point on the Isle of Wight's north coast. The seabed is a mixture of mud and sand, and the small stream Gurnard Luck enters the bay at its south-western end, its estuary used as a small harbour for fishing boats. At the bay's eastern end, a decommissioned lighthouse, unlit since 1989 but still standing as a landmark for yachtsmen, marks Egypt Point, where Cowes Harbour's jurisdiction begins.

Gurnard Sailing Club, on Shore Road at the eastern end of the bay, was formed on 10 July 1931 and runs a programme of dinghy racing from the beach.

The Round the Island Race, organised by the Island Sailing Club, starts and finishes at Cowes immediately east of Gurnard Bay; it is generally held on a June Saturday chosen for favourable tides, and recent years have seen well over a thousand boats take part.

Nearby

Show on map

The Watersedge Beach Cafe

A beachfront cafe immediately next to the slipway and Gurnard Sailing Club, serving breakfast, lunch and ice cream.

Website

Sunnycott Caravan Park

A caravan park on Rew Street with 21 static holiday caravans, open to the public for self-catering holiday lets.

Website

Thorness Bay Holiday Park

A Parkdean Resorts holiday park at Thorness offering touring and camping pitches alongside static caravans and lodges, open to the public.

Website

Conditions to check

Tidal flow

The flood tide in the western Solent sets east; the strongest stream, reaching about four knots at spring tides, runs well offshore to the north of the Gurnard Ledge buoy, with an eddy or slack water forming within Gurnard Bay itself at the height of the ebb.

Source

Shallow or rocky

Gurnard Ledge, a clay and limestone reef, lies off the bay's north-west corner and is marked with a buoy as a danger to shipping.

Source

Boat traffic

Vessels approaching Cowes Harbour from the west are advised to keep a lookout for unlit mooring buoys inside the Gurnard North Cardinal Buoy; commercial shipping and ferries use the deep-water channel further offshore.

Source

Log in to add a photo. Paddled here? Add the first photo — we review each one before it goes on the page.

Questions

No questions yet

Ask about parking, access or conditions. Anyone who knows this water can answer.

Log in to ask or answer. Share what you know about this spot.

Comments

No comments yet.

Log in to comment. Add conditions or a photo to this spot.

Save your own spots

Keep the places you launch, check the wind and shelter before you go, and log every paddle. Add a spot to the directory too, and other paddlers will find it. Free to start.

Get started, it’s free Log in

Location data

OpenStreetMap

View this point on OpenStreetMap