Coasteering
East Sussex

The Experience

Under the Chalk
and Into the Sea

Getting into the Water

Sessions begin at the meeting point where equipment is fitted and a thorough safety briefing is given. The group then walks to the entry point — typically a shingle beach or stepped rock access — where the instructor demonstrates entry technique. First contact with the English Channel in a wetsuit is almost always a shock (even in summer, the water is cold) followed quickly by exhilaration. Within minutes, the group is moving along the cliff base, following the instructor's chosen route through the rock platforms and coves.

The Jump

The cliff jump moment is what most participants remember longest. The instructor identifies a safe jump platform, enters the water first to check and clear the landing zone, and then invites participants to jump one at a time. First-timers almost always spend several minutes on the ledge working up to it — and almost all of them jump. The sensation of leaving solid chalk and hitting the green water below is one of the most viscerally alive feelings that coastal East Sussex has to offer. The water catches you and the instructor is right there. The only direction after that is back up to go again.

Sea Caves and the Hidden Coast

The section of coast beneath the Seven Sisters between Cuckmere Haven and Birling Gap includes multiple chalk cave systems — some accessible only at specific tide states, all invisible from above. Your instructor knows where they are and when they are safe. Entering a chalk sea cave from the water, with the swell holding you gently in the entrance and the ceiling immediately overhead, is the Seven Sisters experience that the thousands of people on the cliff path above will never have. It is the inside of the landscape that most visitors never reach.