Kayak, Forage and Wild Camp along the Pembrokeshire Coast
Explore the remote Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and wild camp under the stars
Trip Ref #9705
Kayak, Forage and Wild Camp along the Pembrokeshire Coast
Explore the remote Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and wild camp under the stars
DURATION
LOCATION
ANNUAL LEAVE
SEASON
GROUP SIZE
MEETING POINT
ACCOMMODATION
Wild camping
DIFFICULTY
You’ll be on the water for 4-5 hours each day, so a reasonable level of fitness and some kayaking experience would be an advantage.
Experience wild and rugged Pembrokeshire from the sea as you kayak along the beautiful National Park
Explore secluded bays and wooded estuaries, discover sea caves and coastal monoliths and then camp out under the stars
Develop your bushcraft skills as you fish and forage for seaside gems and then cook them up over the campfire in the evening
Day 1
Kayak, forage, fish and wild camp
Kayaking
Get kitted out and then after a safety briefing set off from the beautiful St David's coastline. Spend some time exploring caves, rock hopping, foraging, fishing and learning bushcraft skills, followed by lunch on the beach. Make camp near the water and cook the day's catch over the fire.
Day 2
Coastal paddling
Kayaking
Prepare the campfire for breakfast and then hit the water once more. Paddle along Pembrokeshire’s stunning coastline, dropping in at hidden caves and wooded estuaries. Keep a watch out for the local marine life. After lunch, paddle the final stretch to Newgale Beach and if time allows, try riding your kayak along the beach break.
Included
Guides
Expert, local kayaking guides
Accommodation
1 night’s wild camping under the stars
Meals
Munch on tasty food throughout
Transfers
To and from St David's and the water
Equipment
All your sea kayaking, cooking and camping equipment
Not Included
Travel to and from the start point
Visas where required
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
A local vegan chef will provide you with a selection of salads for lunch, and a hot pot dish for dinner, to which you’ll have the opportunity to add fresh fish (if caught!) and sea-foraged ingredients for extra flavour. Breakfast will be hot porridge or an alternative vegetarian cooked breakfast option.
If you would like a tipple while camping, please pack your own. Remember that space is very limited and glass not ideal - a hip flask or a couple of cans will fit fine though!
Vegetarian, pescatarian, gluten-free and dairy-free diets can be provided for, just let your host know in advance.
What is the accommodation like?
Wild Camp
On this wild experience, you'll be bivvying under the stars, either on the beach or above the sea in the meadows. The evening is spent having a campfire on the beach before hitting the hay at your wild camp spot. The exact overnight spot is entirely dependent on tides and weather conditions so your guides will select the most suitable spot and let you know the plan once you meet up with them in St Davids. A bivvy shelter and roll mat will be provided, but you will need to bring your own sleeping bag.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Host’s base in St Davids in Pembrokeshire
10:00
Ends
Host’s base in St Davids in Pembrokeshire
16:00
Transfers
Your adventure starts at your local host’s base near St David’s in Pembrokeshire at 10:00 on Day 1.
If you drive there, the host’s base is easy to find and they can help you arrange parking nearby for a small fee - details of this will be sent in the pre-departure information they send out. There is free on-street parking but it can be difficult to find a spot at the weekend.
If you would prefer to travel by public transport, the nearest train stations are found at Haverfordwest and Fishguard (they’re on different lines so it’s worth checking times for both). It takes around 30 minutes to get to the start point from either of these stations by taxi.
Your adventure ends at your local host’s base near St David’s in Pembrokeshire at 16:00 on Day 2.
Travel options
There are regular trains to Fishguard and Haverfordwest, the closest stations to St Davids.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What's included?
- Sea kayaking and cooking equipment
- Wetsuit or CAG (kayaking cagoule) wear while on the water
- Buoyancy aid and helmet
- Bivvy bag shelter
- Roll mat
What do I need to bring?
Clothing:
- Suitably warm clothing and footwear for the evening (fleeces, warm trousers, woolly hat, etc)
- Long-sleeved top or two that you don’t mind getting wet (a thermal top is ideal, but not cotton!)
- Comfortable swimming costume/shorts to wear kayaking
- Old pair of trainers to wear in the water (or wetsuit boots)
- Lightweight sandals or trainers for the evening (not flip flops)
Camping:
- Sleeping bag (one that packs down to a small size)
- Eye-mask & ear plugs - for those who need a little help falling asleep
Other
- 25ltr dry bag (big enough to carry your clothes and sleeping bag only, other camping gear will be packed in a drybag provided by your host)
- Plenty of snacks (high protein bars, flapjacks, nuts etc)
- Quicky dry towel
- At least two one-litre bottles of water
- Camping mug, bowl and utensils
- Any personal medication
- Torch (headtorch is ideal)
- Eye mask and ear plugs for sleeping (optional)
- Hand sanitiser
- Suncream
- Sunhat
- Sunglasses
- Plastic bag to store wet clothes
- Toiletries (mini and lightweight)
If you forget anything or need some last-minute supplies, your host has a fully-stocked outdoors shop in St Davids, filled with everything you might need. You are entitled to a 15% discount if travelling on this trip.
No optional extras are available for this trip.
From the phone call the day before the trip to discuss changes to the programme because of the weather, to the extremely helpful, knowledgeable guides, this trip was excellent. I had a brilliant weekend - the food was wonderful (and plentiful) and the time on the water was perfect. Thoroughly recommend and many thanks to the guides for such a memorable weekend.
Mind blowingly good for the soul. From epic food, gorgeous seal watching, some awesome kayaking, great new friends and incredible guides that are patient, selfless and so prepared…epic. X
This was a great kayaking trip, the hosts and guide were really great and gave loads of information about the area we were kayaking, lots of tips and advise about how to kayak. I would recommend this to anyone.
Really good experience. Food was excellent.. Very peaceful at sea..I had little experience and the amount of time in the water was just right.
Excellent guides, made the best of the weather we encountered
Overall the trip was disappointing, although the guides were both great due to the weather we had to use an alternative route, instead of the 4-5 hours of paddling each day, fishing and foraging for food and wild camping, we had at most 2 hours of kayaking a day, no fishing or foraging and we camped in a campsite with tents that appeared to be missing the guide lines that would have made them functional. I appreciate that the weather can't be controlled but knowing the alternative i would have preferred a a chance to re book or a refund
Poor weather conditions, leading to a completely different trip from what was advertised. Great hosts but the change in itinerary and plan was disappointing.
Excellent guides, made the best of the weather we encountered
BEAUTIFUL scenery; lots of caves to explore, bright blue sea and amazing wildlife. The guides were incredibly knowledgable on the local landscape, flora and fauna and wonderful hosts. Did not want to leave!
Fantastic weekend in Pembrokeshire! Highly recommend to anyone who'd like an active weekend and to connect with nature. The guides were brilliant and very knowledgeable about the sea and the wildlife. The beach for the wild camp was a beautiful secluded spot, and great for an evening swim! The food was delicious and there was plenty for seconds for those who wanted more.
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 31kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
You’ll be on the water for 4-5 hours each day, so a reasonable level of fitness and some kayaking experience is an advantage.
The Sea Kayaks used on this trip, once fully loaded with kit, are not suitable for a paddler weighing over 17 stone/ 108 kg/ 238 lbs. If you have any queries regarding this, please contact our friendly customer support team pre-booking.
This trip is very dependent on weather and tidal considerations as is expected with the UK coastline. You will always be exploring part of the National Park but the exact location will be decided in the lead-up to the trip.
Sure can! Over 50% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
You can store anything you need at the host's base camp where you will meet at the start of the trip.
As is the case with UK summers, every now and again the weather can take a turn for the worse and it may be the case that kayaking on the open water isn't a viable option. Although this is rare (we will make it work in most conditions), safety is of course the priority. If this does happen, the alternative plan will be to kayak for the weekend but on inland rivers and estuaries - these are all beautiful spots and still part of the Pembrokeshire National Park. The wild camping spot is in Lawrenny in an ancient oak woodland by the river. Your host will let you know before you travel if the weather is looking too bad to be on the open water and you can make the decision if it is still a weekend you would like to be part of.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing.
Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last-minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
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