Coasteering with Boulder Adventures

Messing about on rocks near the sea or as they call it now - Coasteering

Every year we try and get the most out of our company, our friends, our family and some dubious hangers on (Dan) so each year we invite them to come along and spend a Bank Holiday weekend doing some good things in a nice place. We get a mixed bag of people; climbers, bikers and kayakers but the focus is always to try and get people doing stuff they wouldn’t normally do. In previous years we have found ourselves on Rhossili Beach, but the unremitting surf conditions we’ve had for last few years have not been ideal for honing our technique.

Last year we found a new home and it is an amazing location. Deep water soloing, sea cliff climbing, sea kayaking, surfing, snorkelling even play boating are all just minutes away, and if helicopters are your thing then you can be sure that Prince William is keeping an eye on things.

This year we were lucky enough to be taken out coasteering with Dave and Claire from Boulder Adventures. We kitted up at Porth Darfach and were soon trudging our way round the coast to the entry point. There were a lot jibes about walking in a wetsuit not being what we signed up for. but it was just a clever rouse. Once at the waters edge we couldn’t wait to jump in, we were that hot.

Our group included climbers who liked heights but not water and mermaids that loved the water but hated heights. Some of us thought we were ok about both but just a little nervous the whole time.

Claire talked us through the whole process; how to enter the water, how to get out, how to let the swell do the work and even how to rotate better to do better flips. Dave’s group tested their metal with bigger and bigger jumps and there seemed to be quiet a few first refusals. Overall there was a good mix of swimming, scrambling and back flips, but what I liked most about coasteering was the team element. You get a lot of support from the rest of the crew, but no pressure on whether or not you completed a jump. It was not all about who jumped from the highest rock, it was about seeing people gain confidence in a wild environment.

Dave has his own blog at Tea, Flapjack and Ale