General

Calshot naturist beach lies on the north shore of the Solent estuary, south from Southampton. Another traditional nude beach a little to the west - at Lepe - is said to have been 'occupied' by textile beach-goers of late.

Getting There 

O.S. Map Ref: SZ 472998 to SU 473003

StreetMap

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.

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..."

Comments (10)

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trip report aug 2007
written by j green, August 11, 2007

having visited this beach for several years, it is always nice to return. both the wife and i enjoy the quiet nature, seldom interupted by others. Mainly single males, with the occasional couple. gravel beach with nice water.

update on calshot
written by dale, November 17, 2007

new signs have appeared on the beach stating that it is a private beach (owned by cadland estate)and nude bathing is not allowed

...
written by alex, April 10, 2008

it is nice as you can be totally naked without getting any funny looks and u can impress the ladies if you are well endoewed as there are a few single women go otheir to get a nice all over tan so blokes have got something to look at to !!!!!!!!!!

first time
written by Alan, May 03, 2008

Hi, bank holiday monday is going to be my first time, any tips or encouragment?

Signs
written by Derek, May 05, 2008

I've been going there the past 2 years. Its a lovely place, quite quiet but very relaxing and the people there are all friendly. Is it true that they have put signs up nude bathing not allowed. has anyone been there since the signs have been up?

Signs? Where?
written by Kyy, May 09, 2008

I was down there a couple of weeks back, and didn't see any signs up anywhere. There may have been something at the large Groyne that separates the beach from the nature reserve, but that's prohibited entry to all anyways, so I didn't look that far. Never had any problems down at Calshot at all from anyone, clothed or not.

weather
written by A, May 17, 2008

Well the bank holiday was a no go due to the weather, so I'm hoping for next sat. should I just keep walking from huts? how far? I'll prob stay in v skimpy swimwear untill I see another person.

nice
written by A, May 26, 2008

Well i went fri afternoon, and walked down in some skimpy speedo's, then my black thong, untill comfy, then naked. Def go again

.
written by Pete, June 08, 2008

I've just been there today - first time on a naturist beach :-)

There are indeed some signs - the large white boards that point out that the beach is private property, and also prohibit barbecues, dogs, etc etc, do say "no nudist bathing" among the other things. But nobody seemed to be paying it any attention today - maybe a dozen individual men, a few couples old and young, and a family or two down the far end.

I'll be back.

guys
written by A, June 17, 2008

Well, thought I'd let you know that there was a nice very friendly guy there when i was there the other week. I didn't mind at all and would of left me alone if i didn't want the attention, but certainly was fun x

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