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Camber Sands is a beach at the village of Camber, East Sussex near Rye, East Sussex, England. It is the only sand dune system in East Sussex, and is east of the estuary of the River Rother at Rye Bay stretching as one expanse beyond the Kent border.
Contents
Dunes
A large section of the western end of the dunes lie within the Camber Sands and Rye Saltings Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), while the rest is designated a Site of Nature Conservation Importance. The dunes are getting larger by accretion. The dunes are managed to prevent problems with wind-blown sand. The holiday companies in Camber Sands are Pontins and Park Resorts.
Second World War and inland to the east
The dunes were fortified and used for exercises in the Second World War. There is a roughly square MoD danger area and base inland of the east of the area. The dunes resemble topographically those seen in parts of Normandy and challenging desert terrain. Similar training facilities exist at Braunton in North Devon, in Scotland and in Pembrokeshire.
Parking
There are three main car parks in Camber, Western car park on New Lydd road which also has a large overflow car park opposite, Central car park, and the new car park on the old crazy golf site on Old Lydd road. Central also has a large overflow car park. Only Central has direct access to the beach, as you have to negotiate long steep sandy paths over the dunes to reach the beach from Western car park, unsuitable for prams, or wheelchairs. The Western car park closes at 8pm in the summer.
Sporting activities
The beach has become a popular location for kitesurfing, kite landboarding and kite buggying due to its sand and favourable wind conditions. Kite launches are only allowed in the designated area at the eastern end of the beach near the Jury's Gap car park.