Tucked away in the south west corner of the Manhood Peninsula is West Wittering village and its sandy beach. For decades, visitors have flocked here to enjoy days out, looking out to the Isle of Wight and over to Hayling Island, but in more recent times watersports became more and more popular.
So, why is West Wittering so popular, why has it been enjoyed by so many watersports enthusiasts and what are the options along this famous stretch of beach, running from Selsey to West Wittering. Read on, in this latest article from Surfs SUP Watersports and see what we have to say, based on our own experiences.
The Raw Beauty that is West Wittering
West Wittering is a nature reserve and its all round beauty is owed to it being preserved as such. The Village of West Wittering has just a few tiny shops and a pub whilst being just a short walk to the West Wittering beach .
Approaching the beach you’re surrounded by fields and can see the great expanse opening up before you. If you look back you can see the south downs rising up, but we’re walking to the beach so let’s go.
As you walk down the road, you come across the gates entering into the car park and you’ll need to pay for car parking with a credit card.
Now you enter the car park, you’ll find that you can park up right by the gates or drive all the way down to East Head and park anywhere along that stretch, but in the summer, you’re best grabbing a space where you can as it gets super busy.
As you leave your car, you’ll walk through the bushes that line the car par and straight onto the golden sands of the beach.
During the summer there are RNLI Patrols as this area has some very very strong currents and regularly catches people out who venture out too far, so look for the flags and listen to the RNLI team.
Watersports at West Wittering
West Wittering beach is on the corner of the entrance into Chichester Harbour, which is a very turbulant piece of water with strong currents and shallow banks that suddenly drop to deep, so it’s not the best place to begin your watersports lessons.
For this reason Surfs SUP Watersports, run a lot of their windsurfing, wing foiling, wing surfing and stand up paddle board lessons and paddle board tours further in the harbour, where we have many options of safer water. We also use our safety boat where necessary to further better your experience with us.
You can see from our locations map, the places we run our sessions, each one being carefully considered.
where do we run lessons?
West Wittering was born of Roman Heritage
If you wander around the Witterings, you’ll find a couple of churches, tiny pathways and even a very very old sheepdip (see if you and the kids can find that).
St Peter and St Pauls Church both date back to the 11th century and are stunning to look at.
In the village are a few art galleries, a pub and coffee shop and little craft shop.
Its small but has amenities
Aside of being a tiny village, West Wittering makes for a lovely holiday location. Throughout the Witterings, including East, you have lots of B&B and homes to rent as well as campsites, all within easy reach of the beaches.
Some of the local pubs in the area have local Ales and IPAs if that’s your thing and the restaurant serve freshly caught fish.
That said, it isn’t the cheapest place so you may like to check out Bracklesham Bay as well, which is only a few minutes up the road and is where Surfs SUP Watersports is based.
All in all West Wittering and the surrounding areas are a great place to come for a summer holiday with the kids and enjoy some watersports, walking and beach time.
