Chale Bay is a bay on the south-west coast of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It lies to the west of the village of Chale from which it takes its name. It faces south-west towards the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

, its shoreline is in length and is gently curving. It stretches from Artherfield Point in the north-west to Rocken End in the south-east. The bay is best viewed from the car park on the

A3055 The A3055 is an A-Class Road on the Isle of Wight in Southern England. It forms the Southern portion of the ''circular'' around-the-Island A-class loop, the northern section being the A3054. The stretch along the south-west coast of the Is ...

above

Blackgang Chine Blackgang Chine is the oldest amusement park in the United Kingdom, having opened in 1843. Named after a now-destroyed chine (a coastal ravine) in the soft Cretaceous cliffs, it is about 6 miles from Ventnor at the southern tip of the Isle of Wi ...

or anywhere along the

Isle of Wight Coastal Path The Isle of Wight Coastal Path (or Coastal Footpath) is a circular long-distance footpath of 70 miles (113 km) around the Isle of Wight, UK. It follows public footpaths and minor lanes, with some sections along roads. Route The pa ...

which follows the whole coastline along the clifftop. Since the closure of the steps at

Whale Chine Whale Chine is a geological feature near Chale on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight, England (the Back of the Wight). One of a number of such chines on the island created by stream erosion of soft Cretaceous and Jurassic The Juras ...

, the beach at Chale Bay has become somewhat inaccessible, with no way down from the clifftop anywhere along its three miles. Parts of the beach are sometimes used by naturists, who are known locally as "Blackgang Bares".

Geography

The beach is predominantly

shingle Shingle may refer to: Construction *Roof shingles or wall shingles, including: **Wood shingle ***Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle that is split from a bolt, with a more rustic appearance than a sawed shingle *** Quercus imbricaria, or shingle oa ...

and is bordered by tall cliffs which are made of sandstone, chalk and clay and so are often subject to

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is di ...

. There are a number of coastal

chine A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isl ...

s and

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Whale Chine Whale Chine is a geological feature near Chale on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight, England (the Back of the Wight). One of a number of such chines on the island created by stream erosion of soft Cretaceous and Jurassic The Juras ...

and Walpen Chine. The bay's eastern end is the site of ''Shag Rock'' which is a boulder around the size of a small building, though a storm in 1980 shifted it from its once prominent position on the shoreline. When approaching from the west, the bay marks a change in the type of coastline of the island to a rockbound shore which is unsuitable for landing vessels; this sort of coastline stretches until

Sandown Bay Sandown Bay is a broad open bay which stretches for much of the length of the Isle of Wight's southeastern coast. It extends from Culver Down, near Yaverland in the northeast of the Island, to just south of Shanklin, near the village of L ...

. The seabed is a mixture of mud, sand and shells.

Shipwrecks

The wreck of the Wheatfield steamer, which beached on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...

in 1882, lies around 200 yards west of Shag Rock. The 1,200-ton steamship broke up on the rocks after her crew escaped in their lifeboats, no fatalities were recorded but, her cargo (which included tinned meat and flour) was lost. After the wreck, a number of locals were fined for being in the position of cargo salvaged from the ship. In 1996, a 75-foot sailing boat was washed ashore by high waves generated from the arrival of

Hurricane Lili Hurricane Lili was the second costliest, deadliest, and strongest hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season, only surpassed by Hurricane Isidore, which affected the same areas around a week before Lili. Lili was the twelfth named storm, ...

. All five of her passengers were rescued by the local lifeboat service.

References

{{Crossings navbox , structure = Around the

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...

s , place =

, bridge = Chale Bay , bridge signs = , upstream text = West , upstream =

Brighstone Bay Brighstone Bay is a bay on the south west coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the south and west of the village of Brighstone from which it takes its name. It faces south west towards the English Channel, its shoreline is 7 km ...

, upstream signs = , downstream text = East , downstream =

Watershoot Bay Watershoot Bay is a bay on the southernmost tip of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the south-west of the village of Niton. It faces south out into the English Channel, and is one of the smallest and remotest bays of the Isle of Wight ...

, downstream signs = Bays of the Isle of Wight