Paddleboarding spots in Devon
131 launch spots across Devon
Every mapped spot in Devon
Zoom in to split a cluster; open a pin for the spotMap of every spot in Devon
The interactive map opens on any device with JavaScript. The full list of launch spots is below.
Launch spots
Showing 24 of 131
SeaExmouth Belshers Slipway
Devon, EnglandBelshers Slipway launches into the tidal Exe Estuary from the Camperdown/Docks side of Exmouth. OSM records it as a concrete slipway on a public byway (Exmouth Byway 16) open to foot, horse and vehicle traffic. The Exe Water Users Code, published by the Exe Estuary Management Partnership, sets a 10-knot speed byelaw and asks paddlers to keep at least 100m from birds and use recognised launch points.
SeaExmouth Queen's Drive slipway
Devon, EnglandThis concrete beach slipway is on Queen's Drive, Exmouth's open seafront that runs east from the town along a two-mile sandy beach towards the cliffs of the High Land of Orcombe. It faces Lyme Bay and the open English Channel rather than the sheltered Exe Estuary, close to the town's lifeboat station. OSM records the slipway with permissive access and an excellent-smoothness concrete surface.
SeaExmouth Pier Head slipway
Devon, EnglandThis slipway launches from Pier Head into the tidal Exe Estuary at Exmouth Docks, the town's western waterfront where the estuary narrows before reaching the sea. It sits close to Exmouth Marina and the harbour master's office. The Exe Water Users Code, published by the Exe Estuary Management Partnership, sets a 10-knot speed byelaw across the estuary and asks paddlers to use recognised launch points and keep at least 100m from birds.
SeaExmouth Camperdown Terrace slipway
Devon, EnglandThis slipway sits further north along Exmouth's Camperdown waterfront, near Imperial Recreation Ground, launching into the tidal Exe Estuary. OSM notes it was last mapped as extending out into the water, with no access restriction recorded. The Exe Water Users Code, published by the Exe Estuary Management Partnership, sets a 10-knot speed byelaw and asks paddlers to keep at least 100m from birds.
SeaDawlish Warren slipway (Beach Walk)
Devon, EnglandThis slipway sits on Beach Walk on the seaward side of the Dawlish Warren sand spit, which reaches across the mouth of the Exe Estuary opposite Exmouth. It launches onto the open coast of Lyme Bay rather than the sheltered estuary channel. The site lies within Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve and SSSI, whose seaward beach section is managed by Teignbridge District Council and open to the public, unlike the landward saltmarsh.
SeaWarfleet Creek slipway
Devon, EnglandA slipway on Warfleet Creek, a small tidal inlet of the River Dart near Dartmouth Castle at the mouth of the estuary. The creek's name is thought by some, without firm evidence, to recall the fleets that once mustered there.
SeaDartmouth Boat Float
Devon, EnglandThe Boat Float is a small tidal harbour basin in the centre of Dartmouth, created when the town's embankment was built in the 1880s and linked to the River Dart by a bridge; a tidal lock gate added between 1985 and 1990 keeps out spring-tide flooding.
SeaDartmouth Higher Ferry slipway (private)
Devon, EnglandThe ferry's own slipway at the Higher Ferry crossing on the River Dart between Dartmouth and Kingswear. OpenStreetMap notes it as a private ferry slip with no boat launching, standing about 8.5 metres from a separate public slipway at the same crossing.
SeaCoombe Cellars
Devon, EnglandCoombe Cellars is a slipway on the Teign Estuary at Netherton, in the parish of Combeinteignhead, upstream of Shaldon and Teignmouth. The River Teign turns tidal below Newton Abbot and widens into this ria, so the water here rises and falls with the sea.
SeaClyst St. George put-in (East Devon)
Devon, EnglandThis slipway lies on the Exe Estuary near Ebford, close to where the River Clyst meets the estuary just south of Topsham. The estuary here is tidal, with wide mudflats exposed at low water and Special Protection Area status for its wintering wildfowl and waders.
SeaClovelly Harbour slipway
Devon, EnglandClovelly Harbour is a small stone quay on Bideford Bay, part of the Bristol Channel, at the foot of the privately owned village of Clovelly's steep cobbled street. Small fishing boats and wildlife-watching cruises still work out of the harbour.
LakeFernworthy Reservoir slipway
Devon, EnglandFernworthy Reservoir is a South West Lakes Trust reservoir a few kilometres south of Chagford, set among conifer plantation on one of the higher parts of Dartmoor National Park. This slipway sits within the reservoir's forest and campsite area. The water is run chiefly as a fly-fishing trout fishery, and it is not among the Trust's main self-launch activity-centre lakes, so specific paddling access terms here were not confirmed.
RiverCastle Quay
Devon, EnglandCastle Quay is a Grade II listed stone quay on the River Taw in Barnstaple town centre, with a flight of granite steps and a slipway at its south-east end near the Civic Centre.
RiverBuckfastleigh slipway
Devon, EnglandA slipway on the non-tidal River Dart near Buckfastleigh, a market town on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. The upper Dart is popular for whitewater kayaking and canoeing, with paddling typically concentrated in the wetter winter months.
LakeRoadford Lake slipway
Devon, EnglandRoadford Lake is the largest area of fresh water in South West England, a South West Water reservoir formed by damming the River Wolf near Broadwoodwidger and opened in 1990. It is now run by South West Lakes Trust with an activity centre offering self-launch for private kayaks, canoes and paddleboards, alongside a lakeside campsite next to this slipway.
CanalBoehill Slipway
Devon, EnglandBoehill Slipway is the only public boat launch on the Grand Western Canal, on the edge of Sampford Peverell close to Tiverton Parkway station and M5 Junction 27. Devon County Council, which manages the canal as a country park, requires an Unpowered Boat Permit for canoes, kayaks and paddleboards here and notes that British Canoeing, Paddle UK and Canal & River Trust licences do not cover it. The slipway takes trailered craft up to 7.5 metres long and 2.2 metres wide, with parking in an adjoining field reached through a coded gate.
SeaBigbury put-in (South Hams)
Devon, EnglandThis slipway launches onto the open coast of Bigbury Bay between Challaborough and Bantham beaches, South Hams. Bigbury Bay is a stretch of the English Channel that also takes in Burgh Island, a tidal island reachable across a sandbar at low tide, and the mouths of the Erme and Avon.
SeaBideford slipway, East-the-Water
Devon, EnglandThis slipway is on Landivisiau Walk on the east bank of the tidal River Torridge at Bideford, opposite the town's historic quay. Bideford grew as a port on this estuarine stretch of the Torridge before the Long Bridge was built to cross it.
SeaBideford slipway, East-the-Water (Torrington Street)
Devon, EnglandThis slipway is on Torrington Street on the east bank of the tidal River Torridge at Bideford, close to the town's Long Bridge, a 24-arch crossing first built in 1286 and rebuilt in stone in 1474.
SeaWatermouth Cove Holiday Park slipway
Devon, EnglandThis second slipway sits inside Watermouth Cove at Watermouth Cove Holiday Park, a caravan and camping park about 300 metres from Watermouth Harbour's own public slip in the same cove. The park runs an on-site paddleboard and kayak hire and coaching service into the sheltered water.
SeaWatermouth Harbour slipway
Devon, EnglandWatermouth is a small tidal inlet on the Bristol Channel coast between Combe Martin and Ilfracombe, in Berrynarbor parish. Watermouth Harbour's own slipway allows launching at any state of tide, with day, weekly and annual fee options that include parking in the harbour's car park.
RiverBere Ferrers put-in (West Devon)
Devon, EnglandThis slipway drops onto the tidal River Tavy at the foot of Silver Street in Bere Ferrers, on the Devon bank between the village and its former railway station. It has an unpaved surface, and the OSM changeset notes describe it linking a stream to the river across a tidal ford and footpath.
RiverBere Ferrers put-in (West Devon)
Devon, EnglandThis slipway sits on the Devon bank of the tidal River Tamar at Whitsam, within Bere Ferrers parish, roughly opposite Cargreen in Cornwall. OpenStreetMap tags it as a service-road slipway with no further descriptive tags recorded.
SeaBarnstaple slipway, Rolle's Quay
Devon, EnglandThis slipway is at Rolle's Quay on the tidal River Taw at Barnstaple, below the town's Long Bridge. The Taw shares the Bristol Channel's large tidal range, with the water level near the estuary mouth changing by six to eight metres a day.
Save your own spots
Keep the places you launch, check the wind and shelter before you go, and log every paddle. Add a spot to the directory too, and other paddlers will find it. Free to start.
Some launch spots in this directory are seeded from open data. © OpenStreetMap contributors · Open Database Licence (ODbL)