A few months ago, Canoe Kayak UK magazine published a sea kayaking supplement, including a section where ‘Britain’s best sea paddlers’ described their favourite sea paddle. I was also invited to contribute. Below is the bit that I submitted about my local coast…
The Isle of Purbeck (Dorset, England)
Author: Until Mark Rainsley came to Dorset for a job interview in 1994, he hadn’t even heard of the Isle of Purbeck and (as a single-minded whitewater paddler) assumed that sea paddling was a mind-numbingly dull pursuit best left to paddlers with unfortunate facial hair and dubious social skills. He needed the money however, so purely by accident he found himself living amongst some of the finest coastal scenery anywhere. It wasn’t long before he acquired a sea kayak, got out exploring and began to realise how wrong he’d been…
Why it’s my favourite: I am lucky enough to live slap-bang in the middle of the Isle of Purbeck. This is the finest section of coast within the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, which was created on account of its outstanding geological diversity and beauty. The Isle isn’t really an Isle, but is actually a peninsula with water on three sides. Heading south and west from Studland Beach near Poole, paddlers can explore over 20 miles of amazing cliffs, secluded beaches and surging tidal rapids. The sea stacks of Old Harry Rocks form a taster of things to come, before the resort of Swanage is reached. After bouncing through the tide races at Peveril Point and Durlston Head, miles of sheer limestone cliffs present the most committing section of the Isle. They culminate in the huge tide races off St Albans Head, where the paddler feels like a mere speck beneath towering and tottering crags. If you’ve survived all that, then Chapman’s Pool is a wonderful secret cove to lunch at before continuing westwards across the shallow Kimmeridge Ledges to Kimmeridge Bay. There is little tidal flow now, but this area is famed for its ability to form big clean surf waves! The best scenery is arguably still to come, west of K-Bay. The Gadcliff is a contender for Britain’s weirdest rock formation, and Worbarrow Bay’s brilliant white precipices will both dazzle and amaze. By the time you reach the caves and arches around Lulworth Cove, you’ll be suffering from eyeball overload. Be sure however, to paddle slightly further west and explore the perfect arch of Durdle Door and the tunnel at Bat’s Head.
If you can show me any section of the UK’s coast with more variety in just 20 miles, I’ll eat my paddle and post it on YouTube.
Techie details: This coast can be enjoyed as one long trip, or as a fabulous overnighter. The water can be road-accessed at a variety of spots – Studland Bay, Swanage, Kimmeridge Bay and Lulworth Cove. Tides ebb out westwards for six hours from about 30 minutes before HW Dover. They begin to flood in eastwards from about 5.5 hours after HW Dover. The tide flows strongly (up to 5 mph!) with significant tidal rapids around the headlands, however there is little flow west of Kimmeridge Bay. Further information in the guidebook ‘South West Sea Kayaking’ by some fellow called Mark Rainsley, available from Pesda Press.
