Castletown

Large Sandy Bay with attractive town and small harbour.

Submitted by:
justal
Updated:
26th Apr 2004

Photo of Castletown beach - Castletown, Isle of Man

Castletown
by: justal

Castletown
by: justal

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Castletown is the one of the largest towns on the South of the Isle of Man. The town itslef is a nice place to explore with plenty of shops, small museums and a Castle with visitor centre. Perfect for all the family. The main beach area is to the East of the town out towards Derby Haven

The large sandy bay of Castletown can provide some perfect bump and jump windsurfing conditions. The horseshoe shape of the bay means that it is sailable in many wind directions. At low tide a sandy beach is revealed and it is possible to launch all along the beach. Most people however tend to launch either from the small car park at Hango hill in the middle of the bay, or from the tracks off the golf course at the Eastern end of the bay towards Langness point. At low tide even in a howling onshore wind, the waves seem to drop right off allowing for easy launching and landing. At high tide however there can be a nasty shorebreak on the pebble storm bank, especially at Hango Hill. There are also groynes to watch out for to the west of Hango Hill. At hightide therefore, and when the wind is SW and dead onshore at Hango Hill, its best to launch from the Langness end of the bay where the waves are smaller and the wind will be cross-shore. From this location it is possible to blast all the way across to the harbour, but don't fall off in the middle as there is a sewage outlet pipe here.

The proximity of Ronaldsway Airport to this beach means that there can be some REALLY low flying aircraft across Castletown Bay. Despite this, people have been kitesurfing here with the permission of the Airport Police. Other people have also been moved on by them. If you want to kitesurf here then phone the airport and get permission first and be prepared to move should they ask you to.

Castletown can also be surfed in big swells, and a there is a nice little right hand reef break off the rocks to the east of the rivermouth. The wave itslef is a nice little easy righthander that needs a big swell for it to have any power.

Parking is available all along the beach (except in line with the end of the runway) and there is a small car park and grassy rigging area at Hango Hill. There is also limited parking amongst the dunes at the eastern end of the beach. Shops, accomodation and other facilities can be found in Castletown.

There are also lots of nice walks out along the promontory of Langness to Dreswick Point, or out along the rocks of Scarlett Point to the SW of Castletown. Both have sites of historical and geological interest.