The VHF remote sensing radar technique is applied for mapping the current velocities off a river mouth. The river plume and its front are clearly observed in the data. The method appears to provide the convenient time and space resolutions for investigating the kinematics of these highly variable coastal events such as river plumes, even if it cannot at present achieve azimuthal diversity. The radar observations are felt to be particularly relevant for modelling small-scale coastal circulation. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1990