CONTENTS
- Date, Distance & Duration
- Map of Route
- Tide Times & Weather
- Oxwich to Caswell Bay kayak
- Logistics
- Pubs & Restaurants
- Dangers & Issues
- Kayaks used
- Kayaking the Wales Coast
- Summary
1. date, distance & duration
21 April 2024.
6.5 miles route.
Launched at 14:15. Landed at 17:30.
2.5 hours paddling. 45 minutes total stops at Three Cliffs Bay and Pwlldu beach.
2. MAP OF THE ROUTE
3. TIDE TIMES & WEATHER
It was low tide at 12 noon and high tide at 18:00.
It was an over last afternoon with quite light winds of about 6 mph from the South (blowing onshore).
4. OXWICH TO CASWELL BAY KAYAK
We carried our 3 inflatable kayaks down the the water’s edge, inflated and launched at about 14:15 from Oxwich Bay.
We paddled Eastwards off the long sands of Oxwich Beach
Oxwich Bay is one of the longest beaches on the Gower, being almost 2.5 miles long.
Oxwich Head jutted out into the sea behind us forming the Western end of Oxwich Bay.
Ahead of us the dramatic South Gower coastline trailed away to the East towards Pwlldu Head.
We gradually neared the Eastern end of Oxwich Bay where there is smaller beached called Tor Bay and then the renowned Three Cliffs Bay.
As we rounded Great Tor, the magnificent vista of Three Cliffs Bay unfurled before us.
The remains of Pennard Castle stood sentinel over Three Cliffs Bay, as they had done since the castle was built back in early 13th Century by the Braose family.
We stopped for a planned lunch break at Three Cliffs. Unfortunately, we underestimated the speed of the incoming tide which soon engulfed us, forcing us to curtail our lunch break after only 15 minutes or so.
We continued Eastwards from Three Cliffs Bay, forced to eat the remains of our lunch and swig down or beers on the water as we paddled along.
East of Three Cliffs Bay, we paddled past several miles of towering cliffs which cascaded down to the sea.
We passed some rock climbers bravely scaling some of the cliffs near to Southgate – I think I’ll stick to kayaking, seems much safer!
The scenery was stunning and would not have looked out of place in the Mediterranean.
We stopped at the wonderful white pebbled beach at Pwlldu Bay with the heavily wooded Bishopston Valley as a fine backdrop.
We set off from Pwlldu beach for the ‘final push’ on to Caswell Bay, passing Brandy Cove which gets its name from stories of smugglers using the bay to unload their illegal tobacco and alcohol goods during the eighteenth century.
Before long we were approaching journey’s end at Caswell Bay.
We landed at Caswell at about 17:45, a bit tired but still buzzing with excitement after another great paddle in the Gower Area of Natural Outstanding Beauty.
5. LOGISTICS
At Oxwich, there is a large car park which is situated right next to the beach, so there is easy access there.
You pay for the car park for the parking as you enter. There are toilets in the car park.
At Caswell Bay, there is large pay and display car park just over the road from the beach. You can either land on the beach itself but it’s a easier to land on concrete slipway on the West side of the beach if the tide is in.
There is no direct bus service between Oxwich and Caswell Bay. We left a car at either end of the route. If you only had one car, you either need to do a longer 13 miles round trip or you can book a taxi from nearby Mumbles but it may cost you £40 or more due to the time involved (the Gower roads are not the best so the journey is a bit slow).
6. PUBS & RESTAURANTS
These are just a few of our ‘usual haunts’ on or near to the route we did. Three of them are in Mumbles which is only 10-15 minutes drive from Caswell Bay.
Oxwich Bay Hotel
The Oxwich Bay hotel is something of a Gower institution nestled at the Western end of Oxwich Bay overlooking the beach.
The Mermaid Cafe, Mumbles
The Mermaid Cafe on the beachfront road in Mumbles does great food, we’ve never been dissapointed there.
The Pilot Inn, Mumbles
The Pilot Inn in Mumbles is one of our favourite pubs with a great selection of beers and and nautical theme which makes the ‘Kayak Crew’ feel at home.
Verdis, Mumbles
Verdi’s in Mumbles does great Italian food with stunning vistas overlooking Mumbles Head and the expansive Swansea Bay.
7. DANGERS & ISSUES
This is a relatively safe stretch of coast, being quite sheltered by the peninsula of Oxwich Point from the Western swell.
However, as with any sea kayak, you should check the weather, tide times and sea swell forecast before you set off.
On the day of our paddle, we had a flat, glass sea as per the prediction from Surf-forecast.com
The tide runs West to East when it’s coming in on the Gower (and East to West when it’s going out of course). While it’s not as tidal as Swansea Bay and the rest of the South Wales Coast running Eastwards from there, it is advisable to paddle with the tide if possible since it does make a difference.
8. KAYAKS USED
The Kayak Crew mostly use inflatable kayaks due to their portability and we used the below 3 kayaks for this trip.
Sandbanks Style Optimal kayak
Archie and I used a tandem version of the Sandbanks Style Optimal which is a full drop stitch kayak which inflates to 10-12PSI and hence looks and behaves similar to a hardshell.
We have done a review of the Sandbanks Optimal kayak on our Product Reviews section of our website.
Proaqua kayak
Dai used his trusty old Proaqua kayak which is a compact inflatable made from ‘traditional’ construction of low pressure floor and tubular side pontoons (he’s too tight to upgrade to a newer kayak).
Aqua Spirit kayak
Ethan used an Aqua Spirit kayak which is a ‘hybrid’ with a high pressure drop stitch floor chamber which sits between 2 lower pressure side pontoons.
9. KAYAKING THE WALES COAST
This 6.5 miles trip was part of our undertaking to paddle the 870 miles or so of the entire Wales Coast.
As of the date of this trip in April 2024, we’d done most of the Southern half of the coast from Cardiff in the South East up to Aberdovey in Mid Wales.
10. SUMMARY
The Gower is one of our favourite sections, having some of the most stunning scenery of the entire coast.
This is a lovely section of the Gower to do, having easy access at either end and passing some amazing, bays, beaches and cliffs.
Any paddle which involves all of Oxwich Bay, Three Cliffs Bay, Owl Du Bay and Caswell Bay has to rate highly for even the most demanding paddler.