The blue rock channels of Rumbling Kern showcase the North Sea as you have never seen it before. We arrived in Northumberland having spent most of the summer in Cornwall where bright blue water is the norm, however, I never expected to find water equally as dazzling in Northern England.

Pick a day when the sea is calm and you’ll find the channels are perfectly sheltered making them one of Northumberland’s best wild swimming spots.

Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Rumbling Kern.

The Rumbling Kern Rock Channels

A note on the tides and swell

The rock channels are best visited a couple of hours either side of low tide. After this the water slowly reclaims the surrounding rock platform and the channels will eventually be engulfed by the sea entirely. Around low tide itself is also when the water is at its most blue.

You ideally want to pick a day when the swell is marked as smooth or slight as this is when the water inside the channel will be calm to swim in and very few, if any, waves will enter the channels.

When the swell is higher the channels would be too rough to swim in safely.

You can see the 5 day tide forecast here.

The walk to reach Rumbling Kern

The stats

Distance: 400m each way
Elevation gain: 30m
Difficulty: Easy, but with some rock hopping involved
Trailhead: Howick Sands Car Park

The walk to the channels

From the Howick Sands Car Park you head onto the wide farm track leading gently downhill. The views are gorgeous with one lone house looking out to sea amongst a field of grazing cattle.

If you want to go to the rock channels directly you will make a left turn after 240m.

If you wanted to check out the rock formations and the beach first you bear right and 45m later take the left fork down to the beach.

The path narrows and is a touch steeper, but it’s not challenging and the terrain is not slippery when dry. You will arrive at the beach 65m later, or 350m after leaving the parking area.

Alternatively, to go directly to the channels you turn left and when you reach the house and private property sign look for the social trail leading down to the rock platform.

The house is 100m from the rock channels. The path now heads steeply downhill and is rougher, but it’s not too challenging.

Once you’re down on the rock platform you need to continue slightly left and then straight, heading for these coordinates: 55.4502047, -1.5871933.

You will be walking over rocks and across the rock platform. The rock is generally grippy providing you avoid the wet seaweed which is very slick. You’ll soon see the first rock channel directly ahead of you.

Before you reach it you’ll pass a number of small rockpools. One of them is big enough to relax in on a sunny day but not big enough to swim in.

Others are larger but can become stagnant if the tides have not been high enough to flush them thoroughly. There are more pools scattered across the rock shelf but most were very weedy on our visit, however, the tides had not been very high, so they may be fresh when you come across them.

The rock channels

As long as the sun is shining you will arrive to find an azure blue rock channel that wouldn’t look out of place in the Mediterranean, I actually had no idea the North Sea could look this good!

The water is very deep but crystal clear all the way through to the sea floor with just a few bits of kelp and coral swaying around the edges which made the scene even more beautiful.

Getting into the water is easy, whether you like to jump in or whether you’re more like me and tend to sit and slide in.

Towards the far left of the channel (closest side to the sea) you’ll see a section where there is a clear shelf inside the water you can use to lower yourself down a little before you can slide in. The water is deep enough to swim immediately.

We visited on a calm day and there was a very mild current in the water but nothing that made it remotely difficult to swim in. Any small waves broke at the edge of the channel as it opened out to the sea making for a very leisurely experience.

The water is cold, even in summer, so you’ll either want to pick a very hot day, bring a wetsuit, or prepare for a cold plunge experience.

There is a second, possibly even bluer, rock channel in the next inlet. It’s easiest to climb out of the first rock channel on the southern side and make your way across to the second one on foot. This way you don’t need to worry about the waves if you swim out to the open sea - though you could definitely swim out if you’re confident.

There are similar ledges on the southern side of the channel so exiting the water is easy. It’s a bit uncomfortable underfoot walking across the rock platform if you don’t have water shoes on as there are some sharp bits and shells to be wary of, but it only takes a minute or so.

The next channel has a good entry point on the left side where there are tiered ledges to step down onto and exiting this way is easy too.

This channel is a bit narrower but otherwise similar to the first one, though it appeared ever so slightly bluer for some reason!

You can also walk to this one without swimming across the first channel but the way is very slippery with lots of slick rocks and mossy bits to be mindful of. Joe did it this way but said swimming was much easier, so if you’re planning to swim anyway, don’t bother with the dry route.

The Rumbling Kern rock formations

As soon as you get close to the beach you’ll see the huge rock wall standing sentry on the sand. It’s a really impressive sight and almost irresistible to climb.

We went up on the far right side when facing the sea and there’s a very obvious path, it’s not really a scramble, more climbing up a couple of bits of rock and then you’re on top.

It takes less than a minute to get up and it’s fun to explore more of the rock shelf.

You can walk to the right and here you’ll find the large rock formation for which the beach is named. It’s said to rumble at high tide, though as our visit was low tide we didn’t really see it at its best!

Where to park for Rumbling Kern Beach and rock channels

The closest parking area is the Howick Sands Car Park, postcode NE66 3LH, you can see it here on Google maps. There aren’t many spaces, but there are also a few spots where you can pull fully off the road just beside the parking area.

We got a spot easily enough on a sunny weekend in August, so it’s hard to imagine it ever being impossible to park. The parking is currently free of charge.

It’s located 15 minutes from Alnwick, 30 minutes from Rothbury and 50 minutes from Newcastle.

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