With seven miles of golden sands and sparkling sea, the vibrant cosmopolitan town of Bournemouth has it all. With swells being intermittent, every scrap of wave is ridden around here, with some quality breaks for the patient surfer with an OS map.

Bournemouth Pier creates sandbanks which can get fairly crowded in all swells. South-facing and works on all tides but needs a decent southwesterly swell to get going. Boscombe Pier works in similar conditions, with the pier banks being better than the beach. The waves here can be quite quite fickle with one day being small and on-shore and the next 3 foot and hollow.

Europe’s first artificial surf reef is currently being built in Boscombe, Bournemouth this year and is set to put Bournemouth firmly on the UK surf map. The artificial surf reef will push waves upwards, doubling their size and improving their quality for surfers. As a result, the number of good surfing days will be doubled.

Bournemouth has a vast variety of surf shops, restaurants and holiday accommodation, a buzzing nightlife and beautiful countryside.

Surf Information

Break type: Sand
Offshore wind direction: Northerly
Swell direction: Southerly
Wave direction: Lefts and rights
Ability: All
Water quality: Good – EU blue flag award
Lifeguard service: From 1 May to 30 September
National Trust: No

Hazards

Rips when over four feet.
Crowds.
Localism in some spots.

Facilities

Toilets.
Many cafes.
Shower/changing facilities are being developed as part of the artificial reef project.