Steel Bay

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}

{{Infobox UK place |

|country = England

|official_name= Steel Bay

|civil_parish= Ventnor

|coordinates = {{coord|50.60503|N|1.17519|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title,inline|format=dms}}

|static_image_name = Steel Bay, IW, UK.jpg

|static_image_caption= The beach at Steel Bay

|constituency_westminster= Isle of Wight

|map_type = Isle of Wight

|lieutenancy_england= Isle of Wight

|region = South East England

|hide_services = yes

}}

Steel Bay is a bay on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the east of the village of Bonchurch. It faces south-east towards the English Channel and has a {{convert|1/2|mile|km|adj=on|spell=in}} shoreline.{{Google Maps| url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Steel+Bay/@50.6043481,-1.1816164,1018m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x48748bec8c4e69cd:0xd730704a42a78a9c!8m2!3d50.6049627!4d-1.1751094 |title= Monks Bay |access-date= 4 September 2018}} It stretches from Bordwood Ledge in the north to Dunnose headland in the south.{{cite web|url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/steel-bay-isle-of-wight| title= Steel Bay, Isle of Wight | publisher = Ordnance Survey}}

The bay is remote and has no established access. It is best viewed from Dunnose which can be accessed by scrambling over The Landslip, which is close to the Isle of Wight Coastal Path in the woods to the east of Upper Bonchurch. The bay has a large intertidal reef with outlying rocks, which can be a danger for marine traffic.{{cite web| url=https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/specials/pilot-the-isle-of-wight-puckaster-cove-to-bembridge-3273/8 |title=Pilot the Isle of Wight: Puckaster Cove to Bembridge| website= Yachting Monthly}}

File:Steel Bay.jpg|left|upright]]

Situated beneath Bonchurch Landslips, part of the wider Undercliff landslide complex, the cliffs are highly unstable and prone to landslides. The cliffs consist of sandstones from the uppermost sections of the Lower Greensand group overlain by the Gault Clay, with superficial deposits of landslide debris including material from the Upper Greensand and Chalk. The coastline saw major landslide events in 1810, 1818 and to a lesser extent in February 1995.

In 1871, the Underley, a 1,292-ton iron-hulled sailing ship,{{cite web|url=https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+1373/1/31|title=The 'Underley' moored in the Thames at Greenwich|work=State Library of South Australia|accessdate=8 November 2020}} ran around in a strong gale at the point between Monk's Bay and Steel Bay.{{cite book|author=Peter Bruce|title=Wight Hazards|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UDoQf4PR310C&pg=PA46|date=May 2008|publisher=Boldre Marine|isbn=978-1-871680-51-5|page=59}} She was on a voyage from London to Melbourne with thirty passengers and cargo on board, the vessel was lost but all her passengers and crew were saved bar one – a steward re-boarded the ship to rescue his pet bird and was washed overboard as it broke apart.{{cite web|url=https://www.ventnorheritage.org.uk/ventnor_heritage/from-the-archives-the-wreck-of-the-underley_367/|title=The wreck of the 'Underley'|work=ventnorheritage.org.uk|date=5 May 2017}} Fragments of the wreck can still be seen by divers in the area when a gale has shifted the sands.