The Adur Play Wave

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Introduction

Firstly I have to emphasise the following point, if you’re willing to travel; there are far better places to go! Now that I’ve said that, I should also say that I’ve spent many hours playing on this little jet of water that forms 1-2 hours before low tide!

The Adur Play Wave forms 1-2 hours before low tide – yes, it’s tidal so it’s salt water which strangely feels very different to fresh water, especially when play boating! The wave forms when the river Adur begins to squeeze between two ‘groynes’. The groynes were originally formed when an old concrete sewer pipe broke apart but is now patched by local kayakers with whatever materials they can find!

The wave can be surfed in a fashion and as the levels lower, the wave is slowly replaced by a jet with very pronounced eddies on either side. This is the real attraction for the local paddlers. It is used to practice basic white water skills such as breaking in, out and ferry gliding. For the play boater, having a defined eddy line with a moderate depth of water enables things like loops, stern stalls, pop-outs and cart-wheels to be practiced.

As a little bonus, there's also adequate street lighting so this can just about be paddled at night too!