Watersports and Sailing in Hampshire

With a gorgeous 230 miles of coastline along England’s sunny southern shores, Hampshire is a haven for water enthusiasts. For top world class sailing, windsurfing and kayaking, look no further than the Solent. The Hampshire coastline has many attractive harbours, marinas and estuaries, providing ideal locations for watersports.

Sailing and boating in Hampshire

There is good reason that Hampshire is world-famous for its sailing – the county’s coastline is dotted with countless marinas and natural harbours to satisfy seasoned sailors as well as those learning to sail.

The River Hamble, with its annual regatta, is one of the country's leading yachting centres and many kinds of leisure craft and sailing facilities can be found there.

Visiting boats are welcome in many marinas and a choice of locations is available, from quiet and unspoilt spots such as Emsworth or Keyhaven to attractive town harbours such as Lymington or those with easy access to bars and restaurants such as Port Solent.

Both yacht charter for the experienced sailor or sailing courses for beginners are available at numerous coastal centres in Hampshire.

The county’s keen boating scene is reflected in major events throughout the year including the Round the Island Race, Cowes Week, and the Southampton International Boat Show.

Stand-up paddleboarding in Hampshire

Hampshire is also a great place to go kayaking and stand up paddleboarding (SUP) with a variety of trails and routes to follow. Whether you like to be out in the open in places such as Southampton water and Calshot beach or if you prefer more comfortable exploring along Beaulieu River and Basingstoke Canal, there is plenty to discover.

Find out more about Stand-up paddleboarding in Hampshire

Kitesurfing in Hampshire

Beaches lined by beginner-friendly lagoons and reliable sea breezes offer some great year-round conditions in Hampshire for wind watersports like kitesurfing, wind surfing, and wing foiling.

Calshot, a unique spit of land surrounded by water at the entrance of the Southampton water, lends itself to some of the best kitesurfing conditions on the south coast with Nomadic Kitesurf school offering courses for newbies.

Another great place to learn and launch, Hill Head, between Southampton and Portsmouth has a well-known kiters beach.

Hayling Island is home to CBK Kitesurf School, the longest running kitesurf centre in the UK, and the annual Kitesurfing Armada – the biggest kitesurfing and live music event in Europe.

Windsurfing in Hampshire

Hayling Island's award-winning beaches are the popular home of windsurfing while the Calshot Activity Centre on the edge of the New Forest offers a variety of courses in sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and powerboating for people of all ages and abilities.

Lepe, Hill Head, Lee-on-Solent, and Stokes Bay are also top windsurfing spots in Hampshire.

Wing foiling in Hampshire

The new kid on the watersports block, wing foiling is a fusion of kite surfing and windsurfing with the added excitement of riding a foil board when you’ve mastered the wing.

This new water sport is taking off in Hampshire with courses being offered in Hamble and Fareham by Adventure 360 and Nomadic at Calshot.

Wakeboarding and water-skiing in Hampshire

There are designated areas in the Solent for wakeboarding and water-skiing with Stokes Bay or Osbourne Bay being good locations for getting towed in the water.

Further inland, there are some great wakeboarding parks in the county at the New Forest Water Park near Fordingbridge (where you can try the inflatable obstacle course too) and the South Coast Wakepark in Portsmouth.