Standup Paddleboarding and exploring Swansea Bay

If you follow me on instagram you may already know that we recently spent a fantastic weekend exploring Swansea Bay and the Gower and wow what a weekend it was. Even though technically we don't live that far from Swansea as Cardiff is only an hour away we didn't actually realise how much of the Swansea peninsular we hadn't seen, despite having visited Swansea city centre and Mumbles before there is just so much more to this part of South Wales. It was a long overdue trip especially as I am very keen on watersports having grown up surfing in South Africa and the first activity of the weekend was Standup Paddleboarding with Matt from SUP Gower on the beautiful Swansea Canal at the Cyldach Heritage Centre.

Having not put my wetsuit on since before having my youngest 3yrs ago I was a little worried it was going to be on the tight side but luckily it was okay and I didnt even need to breath in too much to zip it up. Once all suited and booted Matt took me through the basics on land, showing me the differences in some of the boards, as well as basic health and safety. Luckily the sun was out and it had turned into a glorious morning on the canal as it's such a tranquil spot with plenty of walkers and birdwatchers and a great place for an introduction in to Standup Paddleboarding.

As it was my first time Sup'ing at they call it I spent the first few minutes paddling on my knees and getting to grips with all the equipment although with perfect conditions and a nice calm canal we were up and away in no time, meandering down the canal taking in the relaxing atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

If your looking for a truly fun activity that is perfect for all ages and fitness levels than I highly recommend trying out Stand Up Paddleboarding and Matt is a fantastic teacher and a very experienced one having competed in Sup'ing internationally. If your looking for a more a bit more of an adrenaline hit then you can have lessons in the surf or head out to sea on a guided sup'ing season, all in and around Swansea so whatever takes for fancy from fast to slow that offer it all. 

After about an hour on the canal, smiles all round, we headed back and I have to say I have totally caught the bug and will be Sup'ing again sometime soon. After squeezing myself back out of my wetsuits we were back on the road and heading to The Mumbles, one of the prettiest little harbor towns in Wales and the perfect place to take the kids to fun some energy off. As it was lunchtime we went on the search for food, we had been recommended Verdis which looked fantastic but was full to the brim and impossible to get a table, which only serves to solidify the fact it's very good and we will have to return at some point to give it a try. Instead we decided to head further down towards the pier to see what we could find. 

We came across The Beach Hut which was perfect pitstops as it was welcoming, family friendly and offered some really great views of the coastline while digging into pizza and ice cream (I mean if you can't eat that at the seaside then when can you?). The interior is fun and colourful and the ice-cream parlor was certainly popular but with so many flavours I can see why. We then had a relaxing walk around the pier and down to the pebble beach, where the kids found some nice seashells and managed to have a quick dip of the toes in the water.

We couldn't of asked for a better day to start off our weekend exploring Swansea Bay, we were outside from morning to afternoon and enjoyed every second. We could have easily spent longer exploring the Mumbles but the kids just loved the time on the beach so much that we didn't want to rush them. We then took a slow walk back along the coastline before heading off to The King Arthur hotel on the Gower Peninsular, I will do a separate post about the Hotel but if your looking for a quaint place to stay right next to a traditional pub (but still very family friendly) then I recommend you check this out. 

Thanks so much to Swansea Bay for inviting us to discover this fantastic part of Wales. Words and views 100% our own.