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What is Coasteering?

Coasteering definition:

"an extreme sport involving swimming, climbing and jumping off cliffs. It is a blend of 'coast' and 'orienteering'

"the sport or activity of exploring a rocky coastline by climbing, jumping, and swimming"

Coasteering in the UK has been informally practised by all sorts of people for many years, most of us will have tried to access a cut of cove by getting around the rocks and tides. Coasteering as a seems to have first appeared around the mid 70's. a quoted saying "A few enthusiasts believe that coasteering will become popular and has a big future". In the 1990's it emerged as a commercially guided recreational activity initially along the cliff coastline of Pembrokeshire in Wales. By the late 1990's Coasteering write-ups started appearing in the travel/recreational pages of the newspapers and magazines and several adventure activity companies offered the activity as part of their adventures.

Coasteeing has now spread to all regions of the UK where there are suitable rocky coasts, including Cornwall, Devon Pembrokshire, Anglesey and the Highlands and Isles of Scotland.

The rocky cliff coasts of western Britain provide the World's principal location for organised guided coasteering, where it is available from many local activity centres. Usually half day or one day trips are offered with a variety of levels for beginners, intermediates and advanced. Some trips are especially slanted towards study of the coastal ecology. A few companies such as Sea N Shore now offer Coasteering and powerboat rides as a combination of Coasteering to locations out of reach to other organisations.

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Last Updated: February 03, 2012