Coasteering Wales, What Is Coasteering And Why is Wales so Awesome For A Coasteer?

21st February 2019 | Adventure Travel, Wales

Coasteering in Gower Peninsula Wales

 

So, coasteering is jumping off rocks into the sea, right? Yes and no. We hear this a lot, “how big are the jumps?” “How many jumps and is it just jumping off stuff?” I mean sure, coasteering includes epic jumps and it certainly injects some adrenaline into your day, but coasteering is so much more than cliff jumping, or tombstoning.

A good short way of understanding coasteering is seeing it as an adventurous exploration of the coastline (cheers Pete!). It’s an exhilarating way of travelling across the sea level of a rocky coastline by scrambling, traversing, swimming, playing in the swells, exploring caves and jumping into deep sea water! Sounds like a good laugh, eh?

 

A Quick History on Coasteering.

Coasteering as a commercial activity is a fairly young activity, having only been around for about 30 years now. It all started on our magical shores of north Pembrokeshire in the St Davids area of Wales. Since then it has grown and grown spreading across the UK & Ireland, and of course worldwide with Big Blue Adventures also offering the activity in Portugal as an example.

 

Epic Trails TV Coasteering in Wales

Coasteering on Epic Trails TV in Wales

But back in the day coasteering was found in elements of various activities, such as a climbing club circumnavigating a section of coast by traversing and swimming. Or the more common one that relates to us all: a group of mates pointing at a distant section on the coast and finding a way to get there, doing all those things mum & dad said not to do on your days at the beach!

In those days you didn’t have the knowledge and the safety support of modern day coasteering. It has developed so much over the years to become a real crowd pleaser for those seeking a unique adventure activity. Coasteering is also not exclusive for the Red Bull sponsored adventurous. Ages from as low as 8 to 10 years can get involved making it a great way for families to enjoy the outdoors together. Being a flexible activity, instructors can ramp up the adventure if requested! That also makes it a great activity for groups with team building to the stag & hen markets always giving coasteering a massive thumbs up.

 

Coasteering is also now registered in the Oxford Dictionary as  “the sport or activity of exploring a rocky coastline by climbing, jumping, and swimming.” And its history being “a blend of coast and mountaineering”. The first time the word coasteering was thought to have emerged was in the book Sea Cliff Climbing, John Cleare and Robin Collomb said “A few enthusiasts believe that coasteering will become popular and has a big future”. Boys, you weren’t wrong.

 

Coasteering Wales Family Activity

 

Why Wales Is The Ultimate Destination For Coasteering?

In my own experience, coasteering is best served on a beautiful, dramatic coastline with big cliffs and caves. While you don’t want to go coasteering in an El Nino type storm, you do also want some swell to make it fun and you do want your coastline to have been shaped by the energy of angry seas over the years. That’s what you have with the landscapes likes Rhossili Bay in Gower, to St Nons in Pembrokeshire and up to the shores of Anglesey. Big cliffs, caves, nice swell sections where the coast plays a role in a natural waterpark and just the sheer beauty of it all. With over 800 miles of award winning coastline in Wales we are spoiled for choice and it is something us Welshies are proud of, being the crazy people that started it all (officially at least). So, what better place to have a crack at coasteering than the epic coastline of Wales?

 

Coasteering activity in Pembrokeshire Wales

 

Daniel Manley

Founder & Co-owner of Big Blue Adventures

Fancy a go at coasteering? I’d love to help, check out our coasteering Wales page for info and bookings. We cover Gower, Pembrokeshire and Anglesey in north Wales! Or hit the ‘Get Quote’ page for bookings.