The levels on the River Mellte and River Sychryd in the Brecon Beacons have dropped in the last week and ground water levels have also reduced a little, although the ground is still pretty saturated. We'll be running all of our Brecon Beacon based outdoor activities, including Gorge Walking & Canyoning this weekend.
With the expected river levels you'll need to be aware of the plunge pool depths for any jumps whilst also being aware that with current ground water levels, any significant rainfall will immediately affect water levels and flow force, leading to flashing on both rivers.
In spite of the river levels, you shouldn't be going anywhere near the water without full safety equipment - buoyancy aids, helmets, wetsuits, proper footwear, etc - and you need to be accompanied by a qualified, experienced outdoor activity guide that knows the location. Although water temperature doesn't change a huge amount throughout the year, air temperature is starting to drop, so you need to be thinking of thermal protection, before, during and after any outdoor activity.
Once again, we could see some positive conditions for Coasteering this weekend. Swell size should be around the 2ft - 3ft mark, and whilst we could have some reasonably strong gusts of wind (11 knots - 13 knots) it looks to be in North / North East direction across both days. This should mean a number of the South Wales sites have reasonable protection from the winds and will keep the sea conditions a little calmer.
Of course, wind isn't quite as predictable as the tides, so you need to be aware of any change in wind speed or direction and how that could effect the viability of any coastal based outdoor activity.
High tide is 10:50 on the Saturday and 11:55 on Sunday, so plan your Coasteering activity accordingly. Our experienced guides will ensure your activity is run at the correct time and will ensure you have all of the required safety equipment. As with Gorge Walking & Canyoning above, temperatures are starting to drop (both air and sea) so you need to be thinking about your thermal protection for any outdoor activity.
Surfing conditions are, as is so often the case, the opposite of Coasteering. So, small swell, whilst great for Coasteering is not what the surfers among us are after. All is not lost though, with the expected offshore winds, you may find that what waves there are along the South Wales coast are holding up nicely.
It's also a good opportunity for those of you who fancy learning to surf to get out in some reasonably gentle conditions. A 2ft - 3ft swell is ideal for your first attempts at catching a wave, and with the winds hopefully working in our favour they'll be a little easier to catch too.
We've got a weekend packed full of outdoor adventure activities, with some Stag Do's from Cardiff visiting us in the Brecons for a bit of Canyoning action. We'll also see a couple of Hen Parties from around South Wales joining us to 'take on the Gorge' in our Gorge Walking activity.
If the conditions hold out, we'll be looking to take some of our groups down to the South Wales coast to explore on our Coasteering activities as well. Looks like our guides are in for a busy weekend of outdoor activities, let's hope the conditions hold up for them.
