Long-term surface wave records from various parts of the English Channel are used to determine the percentage of time during a year for which waves disturb the sea-bed. Most of the bottom sediments are rarely disturbed by waves (<1% of the time), due to water depth and sediment grain size. The coastal zones (<30 m), including the embayments, experience significant wave disturbance at the sea-bed (i.e. >5–10%). The general distribution of surficial sediments can be explained in terms of tidally-induced processes alone. Even in areas where wave activity is high, fine-grained sediment transport is controlled by the same mechanisms.