Wales - 10 places to surf before you fly

10 places to surf before you fly

 

From Barry and the ‘one two Roose crew’, to Swansea and the outstanding natural beauty of the Gower, South Wales has a diverse array of waves, people and places. The waves range from rippable beachies, to long point breaks and a few heavy reefs. The people are generally friendly and range from civil young scholars to deranged cider drinking roid heads.

 

To surf here you need to be primed and ready for a spot to turn on. In the summer we have painfully long flat spells and in the winter when the surf is pumping due to the shallow, easily cooled Bristol channel the water is freezing. Combine this with huge 12 meter tides which can warp and reduce a 6ft swell to a foot, take off zones that continually move and soul destroying rips, it’s a rough ride. We do get the odd classic day in the summer but generally October through to March is when the dedicated are rewarded with crisp clear mornings and milky glass surf.

 

The surfers are mostly friendly, we all seem to know each other and get on well, although the line ups are fiercely competitive, so don't expect to rock up and take your pick of the sets!  A session in the sea is often followed by a bigger session in the pub, normally instigated by the Llantwit boys, songs, strong ale and rollies are generally the formula for the evening. When all elements come together at any number of different spots you can score epic waves, but don’t stay to long cos we’ll have you in the pub drinking ale and saying ‘tidy butt’.