Suited to all walks of life and experience levels, Coasteering incorporates both land and water skills, making it a fantastic way to learn about local wildlife, develop new ocean awareness skills and experience the thrills of adventure.

Coasteering is a dynamic outdoor activity that differs from one location to the next, varies from session to session and is ultimately decided by the sea state each day. That said, Coasteering can roughly be categorised and divided into 7 elements that combined make up a typical coasteering session.

From wild swimming, low-level rock climbing to sluices and discovering caves we cover the 6 elements which you may expect when Coasteering in the UK.

Six Elements of Coasteering

Wild swimming – As part of your Coasteer route, you’ll need to tackle short sections of sea swimming.  We call it adventure swimming or wild swimming as you’ll swim short distances between one rock to the next. With help from a buoyancy aid to keep you afloat, you’ll be free to take in your surroundings at a leisurely pace before reaching your next section.

Low level traversing – It’s rock climbing but not as you know it. With your feet just a few feet above the water line, low-level rock climbing is easier than you think. With plenty of deep water underneath you, the idea is to scale a section of rock leading to your next element without falling.

Deepwater cliff jumping  – No coasteering is complete without a handful of deepwater jumps. Whether they are big or small, challenging yourself and overcoming your fear is truly worth the reward. We start small and we’ll explain and show you the best way to jump so right from the start you feel confident in yourself.

You don’t need to complete a jump in order to move on to the next section, so it’s completely up to you!

Cave discovery – Coasteering in Newquay at the right time of year, tide and sea state provides participants with the opportunity to explore historic smugglers caves and hideaways hidden by the tide. As conditions align you’ll discover large caves eroded over the centuries by storms. Don’t worry if your not a fan of tight spaces many of the caves are as big as cathedrals, great for gently swimming through and exploring whats normally hidden by the tide line.

Sluices, Whirlpools, Gullies & Pour overs – Guides are always on the lookout for elements that can be added to your session, as the tide moves, areas between rocks where water sloshes through, wash around or pours over become fun sections to be utilised.

Rise & Fall of the Ocean – An element which runs throughout Coasteering is the ‘rise & fall’, the undulations of the sea. You’ll be taught how to utilise and maximise your motions and go with the flow of the sea to help you enter and exit the ocean without a struggle. Timing is everything as you let the rise of the swells assist you in exiting or the fall, wash you through sluices and put overs. Always to be respected the motion in the ocean is a great addition to any coasteer session.

*Disclaimer

Although Coasteering can involve these elements each provider across the UK has different methods and means available to them and are often limited by group ability/size and conditions of the day.

Where ever you Coasteer make sure you book with a provider associated with the National Coasteering Charter(NCC). Providers voluntarily sign up to the NCC to show and learn Coasteering best practise. Find out more about the NCC role in Coasteer in this blog post.