Exmouth

The winds

Where to kitesurf at Exmouth: the Duck Pond and the seafront

Exmouth's sandy beach runs about three kilometres east from the docks at the mouth of the Exe to the red cliffs of Orcombe Point, where the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site begins. On the far side of the mouth, the sand spit of Dawlish Warren almost closes the estuary, so the tide fills and empties it through a narrow gap beside the docks.

The Duck Pond is the local name for the shallow water just inside the estuary, north of the docks. Riders rig on the grass of the Imperial Recreation Ground, on the estuary shore close to the railway station, and launch from the sand below it. At high tide much of it is about waist deep, which is why people learn here.

The seafront is the other water. A deep channel runs close along the beach, and outside it lies Pole Sands, a long sandbank that dries as the tide falls. The bank keeps the swell out, so the channel stays flat, but the tide in it runs fast. The town's kite club treats the seafront as a spot for experienced riders only.

The two launches are about two kilometres apart by road, a few minutes by car, so you can move from one to the other as the tide changes.

Which wind direction works at Exmouth

From the seafront the open sea lies to the south and south-east. Winds from south round to east-south-east blow onshore there and arrive clean, and the town's kite club and a local school rate them the best directions. To the south-west and west, the wind has to cross the coast and hills around Dawlish before it reaches the beach. It still works, but it is gusty. A north-easterly blows offshore at the seafront.

At the Duck Pond the best wind is a north-westerly, which blows down the estuary from Exeter. Local guides say it works from west round to north, and one rates summer north-westerlies on a rising tide as its best days. Easterlies cross the town before they reach the water and are gusty there.

Records from Exeter Airport, about 14 km inland, show more strong wind from between south and west than from any other direction. They put the monthly average between 8 and 10 knots, highest from February to April and lowest from September to November. An inland airport is not the beach, so use these figures for direction more than for strength.

Tides: the Duck Pond near high water, the seafront before low water

At Exmouth the tide decides which spot works as much as the wind does. The range on spring tides is about four metres, and the whole estuary fills and empties through the mouth. The tide tables for Exmouth Dock cover both spots.

The Duck Pond is best within about two hours of high water. As the tide drops it gets shallow quickly, down to a few centimetres over the sand, and then you walk. The local club tells learners to arrive three to four hours before high water on a rising tide and use Kings Lake, an area of water north-west of a large sandbank. You carry your gear onto the bank, launch from it, and land back on it if anything goes wrong.

The seafront can be ridden at any state of the tide, but local guides agree it is best on the falling tide, about two to three hours before low water. Pole Sands then shows above the water, the swell stays outside it, and the channel runs flat but fast. Near high water the bank is covered and the channel gets choppy.

Riders also use the current. On the falling tide the river runs east along the beach and out to sea. In a south or south-easterly wind that flow goes against the wind and helps you stay upwind. In a south-westerly or westerly, the rising tide after low water does the same. When wind and current go the same way, you drift downwind fast.

From September to March, the estuary's code for water users asks everyone, where practical, to avoid the two hours either side of high water, when birds gather on the estuary. Those hours are also the Duck Pond's best window.

The Duck Pond: launching, hazards and the bird refuge

Rig on the grass of the recreation ground, then carry the kite down and launch from the sand. The grass is slippery when wet, and around the edges are concrete walls, trees, signs, parked cars and the railway. A launch from the grass in a strong wind near high water, when there is no sand left, is the riskiest part of the session. The club tells beginners to arrive early, while there is still sand to launch from.

The water is shallow, and most injuries here come from hitting things, not from deep water. Wear boots: near the recreation ground there is broken glass from an old tip, and further out there are sharp shells. Watch for sandbanks, moored boats and buoys, and give way to larger boats in and around the channels.

The Exmouth Wildlife Refuge lies on the town side of the Duck Pond and is in force from 15 September to 31 December each year. It protects seagrass beds where brent geese, wigeon and other winter birds feed, and a line of yellow buoys marked WR shows its edge. Stay on the west side of that line, towards the river, and turn early enough that your kite does not fly over it. Four large numbered yellow buoys in the same water mark a powerboat course and are not part of the refuge line.

The refuge is voluntary, but the councils and the local club ask every rider to keep out, and to go in only if safety requires it. The Dawlish Warren refuge, on the far side of the mouth, applies all year. The wildlife team that looks after the refuge reports birds staying in it into February and March, after its official season. The whole estuary is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and disturbing its wildlife on purpose or recklessly is an offence.

The seafront: the channel, Pole Sands and the swimmers

Park in the Queen's Drive car park or along the road, and launch from the beach on the other side of the road, where riders gather on kiteable days. The club describes it as a voluntary launch area. Use it only to launch and land, never to practise kite flying or jumps on the sand, and keep your lines off the beach.

The navigation channel runs right along the beach, deep and fast. Pilot guides for boats warn of streams of up to about five knots near the estuary mouth, faster than anyone can swim. If you drop your kite or lose your board here, the current carries you along the beach, and you need good body-dragging skills to get back. The club advises riders to cross the channel and get behind Pole Sands, out of the main stream, and less experienced riders to use boat support to reach the bank.

Keep well clear of the channel buoys. A kite that falls in the water up-current of a buoy reaches it within seconds and tears on it. If you get caught on one, be ready to cut the kite loose.

The channel is the way in and out of the estuary for every boat, and in summer it is busy with boats, windsurfers, kites and other craft. Give way to vessels that have less room to manoeuvre than you, which in a narrow channel means most of them. Exmouth's inshore and all-weather lifeboats launch from the station on Queen's Drive, and some boats tow water-skiers on long lines that are hard to see.

RNLI lifeguards patrol Exmouth beach in summer (in 2026, daily from 2 May to 27 September) and mark the swimming area with red and yellow flags. Keep out of it while it is in use. When nobody is swimming, the club notes that the water near Maer Rocks and the lifeboat station is shallow and out of the stream, which helps when the current is making things difficult.

Beyond Pole Sands there are waves, best in winds from the east. Further east, past Orcombe Point, the Royal Marines' range at Straight Point has a danger area at sea. Do not ride into it while red flags fly by day or red lamps show at night. The Ministry of Defence publishes the firing times on GOV.UK each month; in November 2026, firing is allowed every day from 9am to 4pm and on most evenings.

Kitesurfing lessons and the local code

If you are learning, start at the Duck Pond. The club calls it suitable for everyone and sends learners to Kings Lake on a rising tide. East Devon District Council recommends lessons, which a school at Exmouth runs under a council concession. Before you move to the seafront, you should be able to stay upwind, rescue yourself and pack your kite down in deep water.

Kitesurfing at Exmouth runs on a voluntary code rather than permits. The local kite club wrote it with British Kitesports and the Exe Estuary Management Partnership, and it sits alongside the estuary byelaws, the bird refuges and the swimming areas.

The code asks riders to hold third-party insurance, to have had lessons from a qualified instructor or reached British Kitesports level 3, and not to teach themselves. Ride with a buddy or tell someone where you are, wear a helmet, carry a line cutter, and do not ride in offshore winds unless rescue cover is there.

Put your name and phone number on your kite and board. If you lose either on the water, call the coastguard's non-emergency line to say you are safe, so nobody starts a search for you.

Water temperature, wetsuits and getting there

The sea off Exmouth is coldest in February and March, about 9 °C, and warmest in August, about 17 °C. Riders wear a 5/4 with boots, gloves and a hood through the winter, a 4/3 in spring and autumn, and a 3/2 on warm summer days. Keep the boots on at the Duck Pond all year, because of the shells and glass.

Exmouth is about 280 km by road from central London, nearly four hours in light traffic, and about 20 km from Exeter. Trains run about twice an hour from Exeter St Davids on the Avocet Line and take around half an hour. Exmouth station is a few minutes' walk from the Duck Pond. The fastest trains from London Paddington reach Exeter in about two hours.

Reading the live wind at Exmouth

Check the direction first, because at Exmouth it decides which spot to use. North-west, or anything from west round to north, means the Duck Pond around high water. South round to east-south-east means the seafront, best before low water. A south-westerly or westerly works at the seafront but gusts, and a north-easterly blows offshore there.

Then put the reading next to the tide table. A good north-westerly at low water still means a walk at the Duck Pond, and a good south-easterly at high water means choppy water at the seafront with the bank covered.

Compare the strength with the forecast for Exmouth, and look at the gap between average and gust. A small gap usually means wind straight off the sea. A large one usually means the wind has crossed land first, as a westerly does at the seafront and an easterly does at the Duck Pond, or that a front is passing.

The widget above shows the latest readings from the stations around the spot.

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