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O.S. Map Ref: SZ 472998 to SU 473003
General
Calshot naturist beach lies on the north shore of the Solent estuary,
south from Southhampton. Another traditional nude beach a little to the
west - at Lepe - is said to have been occupied by textile beach-goers of
late
Access & Parking
From the M27 west of Southampton at Junction 2, turn south onto the A326
to Marchwood, Hythe and Fawley. At Fawley bear right onto the B3053 to
Calshot. As you approach the beach, there is a paying car park on the
right but if you continue past this and turn right into a short one way
system, it is usually possible to park along the road, free of charge. By
the cafe, there is a gap in the beach huts allowing access to the beach.
Walk the full length of the beach in a south-westerly direction, probably
no more than half a mile, towards the Isle of Wight in the distance. The
naturist section starts around the first of the (very dilapidated)
groynes. This is past a very elaborate mock-Grecian boathouse and the
enormous beach gates to a clifftop house called Nelson's Rest. DO NOT
venture beyond the large fence across the beach, beyond which is a nature
reserve.
For those without a car, the beach can be reached by cycle from Hythe.
Get to Hythe on the ferry from Southampton, which has adequate public
transport links. Bit of a climb from Hythe up to the main road, then
relatively flat. No specific bike parking, so lock it/them to roadsigns
etc.
Description
The beach faces just east of south. Much of the beach is pebbles, but
some sand appears at low tide (and can be found underfoot further out). At
high tide there can be very little beach exposed between sea and
cliff/vegetation - so check tide tables. The top of the beach has a
relatively steep slope, but at low tide the slope is very slight - you may
need to wade out some way to get to swimming depth. The beach is backed by
trees and scrub - but this area belongs to the nearby Estate and naturists
should refrain from trespassing on private property for the sake of the
tolerated use of the beach. There are good views of the Isle of Wight,
sailing and the occasional cruise liner. Reports suggest the beach is
often quiet and used in the main by single men, sometimes single women and
some couples, maybe a dozen or so in total on a sunny Sunday.
A recent visitor [summer 2000] described Calshot as " the best place
to try naturism " "..very private" and says "everybody
at the beach is quite friendly".
Facilities
The nearest facilities are where you entered the beach, a small cafe
selling ices, teas, burgers, chips etc, and toilets in the pay car park.
Water Quality
Calshot is probably the last mainland beach for tens of miles to have
something of the clean water characteristics of Studland and Hengistbury
Head. Even at Calshot, there is significant variation in appearance (and
temperature) of water with state of tide.
Summer 1999: water meets Environment Agency "guideline quality"
standard.
Check Calshot in the Marine Conservation Society Good Beach Guide
Trip Report August 2005
"Today I visited Calshot and was pleasantly surprised.
What a lovely view of the Isle Of Wight and plenty of boats on the Solent. The beach offers plenty of privacy from the so called textiles with no passing 'traffic'. The shingle is a little uncomfortable, so I would advise taking something padded to sit on - there is some sand when the tide is out. A very peaceful location, close your eyes, listen to the tide and feel the air on your naked body... Ah!"
Trip Report June 2005
"Arrived around 2pm and walked to the far end of the beach about (10minutes/half a mile) and spent around 2 and a half hours soaking up some much needed sun. Spoke to another naturist who said it's always quiet during the week days, the two of us being the only naturists at this end of the beach, saw a couple of texiles in the distance."
Trip Report July 2002 - by MikeR
"I arrived at about 11am. The beach was empty, not even a textile in
sight - well, it was a bit early and a bit windy. I walked to the sign
which says "No entry, cliff falls" and found that there was in
fact someone else on the beach. Right at the end by the barrier a middle
aged bloke in his underpants! On the way back I passed two dog walkers
coming the other way.
Quite a nice beach. If you go to the end you'd probably be far enough away from the textiles to feel comfortable. Six out of ten if you weren't the only one there."
Trip report 1999
"My wife and I spent Sunday (25th) at Calshot. The water's not as
clear/clean as Studland, and you need plastic
sandals to cope with the stones, sandcastles are impossible except in a
couple of places at particular states of the tide, but it's still a lovely
place and had several advantages: relatively lightly populated (around
half a dozen couples plus same number of singles along the quarter-mile or
so of CO beach), there's normally something to watch going on on the
Solent (eg yachts of all types and sizes, commercial shipping ditto), and
there's quite a bit of shade available from the trees which grow right
down to the beach."
28/7/99 Comment in 'uk.rec.naturist':
"My family have used this beach for about ten years, arriving by
boat from the Hamble river, as do many others. In calm conditions there is
safe anchoring within about thirty feet of the shore from about two hours
before high water to three hours after (my boat draws five feet), but err
on the early side to leave as there is a slightly shallow bar a couple of
hundred yards offshore. Very quiet mid-week, becoming popular at weekends
with the inevitable 'rubbernecks' on Jetskis and speedboats. Also
childrens' groups canoeing from the Calshot Activity centre pass close
inshore from time to time, so be discrete to avoid offence when
appropriate."
May 2001 Comments from 'Alan'
"What a contrast to that pit down the road in Brighton... the
naturist part is very clean... there is an overspill of naturists on to
the textile side [but] the textiles seem to take no notice... when the
tide is out, you can walk some distance comfortably..."
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