CONTENTS
- Date, Distance & Duration
- Map of Route
- Tide Times & Weather
- Mewslade to Port Eynon kayak
- Logistics
- Pubs & Restuarants
- Dangers & Issues
- Kayak/s used
- Wales Coast Kayak
- Summary
1. DATE, DISTANCE & DURATION
26 September 2020.
About 5.5 miles kayaking.
Launched from Mewslade about 13:00. Landed at Port Eynon about 17:00. 45 minutes lunch stop. About 3 hours 15 minutes padding.
2. MAP OF THE ROUTE
3. TIME TIMES & WEATHER
It was a quite cold day for late September, with temperatures topping at about 13 Celsius with lightish winds from the North of about 12mph.
4. MEWSLADE TO PORT EYONON KAYAK
We had originally planned to kayak from Rhossili to Port Eynon to cover this stretch of coast down the end of the Gower. However, when we got to Rhossili, the sea looked too rough to launch there with large breakers sweeping in along the long beach at Rhossili.
We therefore decided instead to launch from the more sheltered cove at Mewslade just down the coast.
Having parked up at the small car park and walked about 2/3 of a mile down the track to the cove at Mewslade, we launched at about 13:00 out onto a sea which was a bit rougher than we had expected.
Looking Northwards up the coast, we could see Rhossili Head just over a mile to the North.
We turned Southwards and started to head down the coast towards Port Eynon Point. The scenery was stunning and reminded me very much of parts of Southern Croatia.
This was our first time kayaking this coastline down the end of the Gower peninsular and we were blown away be the scenery.
The wind was blowing from the North so was behind us, helping us along as we paddled Southwards off of this particularly wild and unspoiled section of the Gower coast.
Much of the Gower peninsular is an Area of Outstanding National Beauty. This stretch of coastline down the end of the Gower is maybe the wildest and most unspoiled of the entire Gower peninsular, being the most remote stretch of the Gower coast.
About a third of the way along the route, we passed Paviland Cave where a fossilised skeleton discovered in 1823 was at first thought to be of recent date and female. However, it is now known to have been a ceremonially buried young adult male, a representative of the early humans who entered Europe around 40,000 years ago, during the last ice age. The limestone fissure is easily accessible only at low tide.
Looking back Northwards up the coast, we could sea the distinctive shape of Worms Head silhouetted against the horizon.
We saw a seal poke its head up out of the water about 100 meters away but before I could photograph it, the seal had submerged again – they can be quite elusive creatures, especially when you have a camera out!
About 2/3 of the way along the 5.5 miles route, the sea started to get rather rough, presumably due to a tidal race running there. We got a bit worried as our kayaks were tossed around by the churning sea.
This rough patch seemed to last for about 2/3 of a mile before the sea started to subside again as we neared Port Eynon Point.
Looking Southwards, we could see the North Devon coastline on the horizon on the other side of the Bristol Channel.
Just before Port Eynon Point, we came to Overton Mere, a rocky plateau surrounded with hills rising high on three sides.
We came upon Port Eynon Point itself, which is a headland jutting out into the sea on the South West end of the Gower.
Despite having warned Archie beforehand about the need to hug the shore at Port Eynon Point due to the outgoing tide and offshore wind, the stunning views back up the coast captivated us like the Sirens of Ancient Greek mythology, almost sending us to our doom. We soon realised that the tide and wind had carried us a few hundred meters off Port Eynon Point and we started to literally paddle for our lives towards Port Eynon!
After what seemed like an eternity of frantic paddling, we eventually managed to both get back into the shore near to Port Eynon Point. We chatted briefly to some people fishing off the rocks who had seen us drifting and were feared that we were goners!
We stopped for a lunch break in a rocky cove just East of Port Eynon Point to get our breath back and have a beer to calm our nerves after our close shave.
As is often the case, as soon as we stopped paddling and had a lunch stop, we started to get cold straight away and we were soon donning our jackets and sheltering from the wind.
We paddled the last half a mile or so into Port Eynon Bay before landing at Port Eynon at about 17:00.
5. LOGISTICS
As stated earlier, originally planned to launch from Rhossili beach which would have been a 7.5 miles one way kayak. It looked too rough to launch at Rhossili though.
If you are doing this section along the end of the Gower, then Rhossili is probably. abetter place to land/launch from. There is a large pay and display National Trust car park at Rhossili next to the Worms Head Hotel. You do have to go about 300 meters down a path to Rhossili beach but the far Southern end of the beach is fairly sheltered place to land/launch from even if rest of the beach has large breakers sweeping in.
We instead thought parked up at the car park for Mewslade beach which is just off the main road at the village of Pitton.
You have to also pay to park at Mewslade but it’s cheaper than the National Trust car park at Rhossili.
You have to take the kayaks about 2/3 of a mile down a path from there to the cove at Mewslade. While we have launched from Mewslade on a few occasions, it is a bit of a trek.
If you have hard shell or sea kayaks then you will need trolleys to wheel them down the path to Mewslade cove.
At Port Eynon, you can park in the large National Trust car park not far from Port Eynon beach.
If you only have one car then there is a bus 118 between Port Eynon and Rhossili which you could use to do the longer route between Rhossili and Port Eynon. The link to the timetable is below.
https://www.adventuretravel.cymru/bus-services/swansea/118/
6. PUBS & RESTAURANTS
The Worms Head Hotel, Rhossili
The Worms Head Hotel has a beer garden with what must be one of the best views in the UK, being perched on the Southern end of Rhossili beach and also blessed with views out towards the stunning Worms Head.
Rhossili can get very busy at peak times due to the popularity of the beach and the amazing Worms Head peninsular.
The Ship Inn, Port Eynon
The Ship Inn is a cracking pub in the quaint village of Port Eynon.
The King Arthur, Reynoldston
If you are down this end of the Gower then you’ll probably pass the King Arthur at Reynoldston on the way down or back.
The King Arthur is blessed with a fine beer garden out front but also has lovely, traditional interior.
7. DANGERS & ISSUES
Tides and Weather
As with any sea kayak, plan ahead using weather and sea swell forecasts. We use Surf-Forecast.com, the link for Mewslade being below.
https://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Mewslade-Bay/forecasts/latest/six_day
The tide tends to runs down the end of the Gower when going out and up the coast when coming in due to the effect of the nearby Loughor Estuary just to the North.
Worms Head
This is only an issue if you do the longer paddle from Rhossili to Port Eynon (or vice versa). In this case, you will have to paddle the channel between Worms Head and Rhossili which has a tidal race which can run fast and become rather rough other than about 90 minutes either side of high tide.
When the tide is coming in, it runs quite fast Northwards through this channel. When it’s going out, in runs quite fast Southwards through this channel.
Port Eynon Point
You need to take care when paddling off of Port Eynon Point if the tide is going out since it then runs straight out to Carmarthen Bay to the West.
We almost got into trouble here on our paddle when we stopped to chat and take photos and drifted a few hundred meters out to sea, pushed by the outgoing tide and the off shore wind.
8. KAYAKS USED
Pro Aqua inflatable kayak
I used my trusty Pro Aqua kayak on this Gower paddle. Most of the Kayak Crew used these Pro Aqua inflatable kayaks for the first 4-5 years that we paddled.
The Pro Aqua kayaks used to be sold by Clas Ohlson but have been discontinued for some time.
Tootega Hydrolite Kinetic 100 kayak
Archie christened his newly acquired Tootega Hydrolite Kinetic 100 kayak on this paddle.
9. WALES COAST KAYAK
This Gower kayak was part of our undertaking to kayak the 870 miles or so around the entire Wales coast.
This is a huge undertaking and this adventure has taken us to parts of our coastline that we had never been to before.
10. SUMMARY
This kayak took us to arguably the wildest and most unspoiled part of the Gower peninsular.
The scenery was some of the best that we’ve seen on any part of the Wales Coast and we could easily have been on the Croatian or Sicilian coast.
The trek from the car park at Mewslade to the beach can be a bit of a slog if you have heavy kayaks in which case we’d suggest you do the longer route from Rhossili to Port Eynon. In that case, we suggest you time it to paddle through the channel between Rhossili and Worms Head within 90 minutes of high tide due to the tidal race there.
We’d highly recommend paddling this stretch of coast down the end of the Gower, you will not be disappointed.
If you are planning to paddle this part of the Gower then you can download our PDF guide to kayaking this coastline via the link below which is packed with useful practical information.