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 Guide to Paddling from Dartmouth on the Estuary and the Sea We are asked quite often to advise those visiting the area about the best paddling opportunities here, where to park cars, how to launch etc so we have put together this brief paddlers guide.
Dartmouth Itself: (generally a nightmare for parking) Coronation Park (by the Higher Car Ferry) has a slipway much used for launching boats of all kinds and often used by kayakers. Useable at all stages of the tide. 2 hour parking along the sea front but often full. Kayakers may prefer to leave cars at the very TOP of the town after unloading their boats etc and to walk down Mount Boone / Ridge Hill. At end of your paddle go up the hill using the local bus which leaves from near the Station Restaurant further down sea front (c £1.70) every 15 mins. If the driver has some dry clothes for the bus ride it may help. The walk up is very steep and is pure agony if you are tired at the end of a paddle.
Pontoons by Dartmouth Yacht Club Next to Lower Car Ferry. Good easy launch point at all stages of tide when pontoons are there (May - end Sept). Parking very difficult due to ferry queue adjacent. Nice stopping place for purchasing ice cream or fish and chips. Beware of Lower Car Ferry reversing out of slipway close by - they do not always look before leaving the slipway so keep well away if they are loaded and might be ready to leave. Pontoon by Toilets There is a pontoon in front of the towns main public toilets that can be used for short stops. It is 100m upriver from the Station Restaurant. Warfleet Creek near the river mouth is sheltered and good for children. Cars can be reversed down to waters edge for launching. It is not ideal for starting day trips as the tide will probably be out when you return if its in when you launch. it is mud / stones at low water and longish carry to the car when the tide is out. Parking The town centre of Dartmouth does have a car park but its has a maximum stay of 4 hours so is no use for kayakers day trips. There is a park and ride serving the town which can be used for all day parking. Finding free on road parking is impossible anywhere close to the water. It is possible at the very top of the town. If you are a visiting group of paddlers and need assistance the writer of this guide Tim Freeman may be contacted. I might agree to come to you in my car at the end of your paddle and run a few soggy paddlers up the hill to their cars for instance.
Up River: Dittisham
You can land at all stages of tide on a public pontoon or the beach in front of the Ferryboat Inn. Cafe and pub, both recommended but book in high season. Car park. There is a small car park by the Ham (a pretty grass field) near the sailing club and parking on the road above it is easyish. From here it is muddy to launch at low tide. The sailors have created a stoned walkway through the copious mud in front of their clubhouse round a bit from the carpark that avoids the mud but this does not quite cope with spring low tides and its a longish walk back to the car if you are carrying a boat. Stoke Gabriel
Easy to access as pontoon available at all but the lowest point of the tide. Cafe for ice cream etc Pub Church House Inn further up into village is pretty. A pretty inner lake with ducks is formed by a causeway that is an old site of two tidal water mills. Some parking. Maltsters Arms
Very nice to visit for lunch if the tide is high in the middle of the day. An evening visit is possible on a high tide but you will end up in the dark if trying to return to Dartmouth. Night paddles are possible, the biggest risk is clattering into a yacht or large buoy without seeing it, on the return leg you will often have a spring falling tide and be travelling deceptively fast. Watermans Arms
Visit possible on high spring tide only. Hence cannot do for lunch (as spring tides here are always 8am/8pm or similar, never at lunchtime). For an evening paddle you can usefully preposition a car in the large pub car park on a day when there is to be an evening high tide and then paddle TO the pub. Then go home by car. Camping
Possible only at the Sharpham Estate, which must be pre booked with estate office. Campsite is opposite Duncannon near to where the river splits for Tuckenhay/ Totnes. Lots of goose poo but nice for fires. Totnes
On a high tide one can visit the Steam Packet, a nice pub by water. Arriving in the evening on a high tide is nice. Parking is tricky however. One idea is to preposition a car in their small carpark at lunchtime, then arrive by kayak in the evening and eat there for your evening meal. Go home by car. Or maybe get a friend to arrive by car with a roof rack to take you home. There is a biggish paying car park by the rowing club on the east side of the river but its a long walk from the town centre.
Coast Nearby: Mewstone (outside river on east side) Good for seeing seals especially at low water on sunny days. Please don't go there on a sit on top kayak on your own with no lifejacket no radio etc. We do see this sometimes and it annoys us. It just isn't a good idea. This is the SEA and it deserves a little respect for the sake of safety. Blackpool Sands (along the coast on west side)
Nice beach with good cafe serving excellent filled rolls and Danish pastries (baked on the premises). Beware of surf - this beach suffers from seriously big dumping surf. Landing and launching can be very very tricky if there is a swell. Always have spare food in your boat easy to get at afloat so you can abort the landing and eat on the water if it is too rough to land when you get there. Good for parking and launching, but you will pay £5 per day or more for it in high season. Brixham Can be reached in a longish days paddle in a general purpose kayak. In a sea kayak you can get there and back if fit. Nice coast with caves near Berry Head.
Beach Camping using a Sea Kayak Above all folks DO NOT POO ON OUR BEACHES PLEASE. Sea kayakers do not often leave litter but all too often they do poo in corners on beaches thinking no-one cares or will ever find it. We find it (by smell) when we go there the next day for lunch. DONT DO IT. Bag it up and take it with you and bin it when you next pass a bin.
Scabbacombe Sands part way to Brixham is nice. The small beaches just south of Blackpool Sands are nice. The north end of Slapton Sands is ok (unless you object to the occasional nudist). Go for the shingle areas - they are clean and you do not get covered in sticky sand. With a thermarest the rounded shingle we have here is surprisingly comfy for sleeping on. South of Torcross village camping is possible (you can walk back to the Start Bay Inn for supper) but technically this part of the beach is owned privately so be discreet, spotlessly clean and very tidy.
Enjoy....
Tim Freeman
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Maltsters Arms
Torcross