Practical pitch craft for camping within walking distance of the sea—from choosing windbreak orientations to pegging into sand and rinsing zips.
Pitching Smart on Exposed Clifftops & Machair Dunes
Waking up to the sound of Atlantic rollers and unzipping your tent door onto a panoramic sea view is one of the highlights of British camping. However, coastal pitches experience stronger diurnal wind shifts, sandy or shell-grit soil that rejects standard wire pegs, and salt-laden dew that can corrode untreated metal zips.
Tucking your tent into the lee of a Cornish gorse hedge or Scottish machair dune and orienting the lowest, most aerodynamic end of your tent into the prevailing south-westerly breeze prevents midnight pole flex.
- Broad Delta or Snow/Sand Pegs: Standard 6mm wire pegs pull straight out of sandy coastal turf; carry 25cm–30cm broad-profile V-pegs or screw-in pegs.
- Guy-Line Tensioning: Peg out every single storm guy line at a 45-degree angle on arrival—even if the evening feels dead calm—as offshore gusts often pick up at 3am with the tide.
- Post-Trip Gear Care: Hose down tent poles, steel pegs, and awning zips with fresh water when you get home to remove corrosive salt crystals.