The coastline of Pembrokeshire is renowned as a place for fantastic sea kayaking. The crystal clear Atlantic water and the world renowned coast line makes Pembrokeshire a sea kayakers paradise. Natural features such as water falls , arches and caves make it an exciting place to visit at all times of the year. That’s before we even start talking about the waves !
Kayaks offer a unique opportunity to observe wildlife along the coast. Seals love kayaks and birds are more at home and less threatened by Kayaks than powered boats. There are large numbers of grey and common seals around the Pembrokeshire coast. Heading south from Poppit Sands its pretty unusual not to a see a seal within 30mins…. but never say never. Its been a long while since I’ve seen any dolphins though. Use to be all the time, now you need to paddle over to Mwnt which isn’t too bad if the tide is with you. Its a pig of a paddle otherwise J
Cardigan Island is home to a number of sea birds (Shags, Razor bills choughs etc) but no puffins as yet. The story goes that long ago there were lots of Puffins on Cardigan Island but following a ship wreck on the Island rats escaped from the sinking ships and lived on Puffins for a while, since they were easy meat so to speak.
A number of attempts have been made since to make Cardigan Island an attractive place for Puffins (including the removal of the rats) but as far as I’m aware there are still no Puffins on Cardigan Island.
So what type of Kayak should I go for. Well I feel safer (if not wetter) if the children and I care on sit on tops. However if it were just me I think I’d prefer the comfort of something a little more built up.
A company called Preseli Venture seems to have facilities and training based around Haverfordwest.
Preseli Venture,
Parcynole Fach,
Mathry, Haverfordwest,
Pembrokeshire
SA62 5HN, UK
We managed to get about 100yds with 8 of us on the kayak.
