Places

West Wales : Borth : Surf & Windsurf Locations

The Beach at Borth

The three miles of sand is backed for the most part by a pebble storm beach, and to the north by dunes. The south end of the beach houses the RNLI station and a small slipway. The beach then extends for approximately 3 miles northwards. The first two miles or so of this is intersected by groynes. The main areas for surfing or other sports are as follows.

Lifeboat Station

Surfing at most states of the tide and in most winds.

Windsurfing.

Mid Beach.

Surfing at most states of tide and in most winds.

Windsurfing.

Golf course Car Park.

Surfing in offshore winds.

Windsurfing.

Kite-buggying.

Kite-mountain boarding.

Kite-surfing.

Landsailing.

Ynyslas (Estuary)

Windsurfing in Westerlies if too onshore at Borth. Or flat water blasting in any direction at high tide.

Kite-surfing at high tide.

Land/Sand based sports at low tide.

Borth Bog

Windsurfing in Speed Channel in dead Westerlies or dead Easterlies... Yet to be tested..

Lifeboat Station

This is the area in the far south corner of Borth (funnily enough by the RNLI station). The hill to the south tends to protect the beach slightly from SW winds, and southerly winds can often swing around the hill to produce cross-offshore conditions. Needless to say, if the rest of the beach is blown out, then this is the area to head for surf. The wave is fairly slow and being a beach break there is no definite peak or direction. Although, waves do tend to break left of the rocks in the corner and there is often a right-hander just off the first groyne. Generally though, as waves tend to come from SW swells, waves all along the beach hit it at a slight angle and break left. On big swells, all states of the tide are surfable, but the steepening beach at high tide can produce backwash and very short waves. At low tide, the point is also surfable... Richy's first attempt at surfing this wave led to him calling it 'Death Point Break'... but take no notice of him, its an easy, slow left-hander.

Mid Beach

Often, there can be good waves in the centre of the beach, both just offshore from the toilets, and also in front of the Youth Hostel (basically the last house in Borth). However, there is little difference between the waves along the whole length of the beach here.

Golf Course

If you drive north through Borth and along the straight road between the golf course, you come to Ynyslas, the road then bears to the right.... Don't bear right, but go straight on, just after this junction is the entrance to the 'Golf Course Car park'. This is where most of us tend to congregate.

This area of the beach catches more swell than elsewhere, but is also the most affected by the wind. However, the windsurfing here is excellent at all states of the tide (except maybe extreme high tides). You can rig up in the sheltered car park on grass and then enjoy excellent bump & jump conditions in the cross-onshore winds. NW winds produce nice conditions as do SW winds which bring more swell with them. Westerly winds are directly onshore. Winds with an easterly element are also good, but only if its really windy as the winds tend to become disrupted by the dunes and can be gusty.

This area is also the place of choice for landsailing and kiting and the steady winds produce good conditions, and the hard flat sands exposed as the tide drops are ideal. The groynes that prevent longshore drift along the southern two-thirds of the beach also stop here which is an added bonus for the 'sand-based' sports.

Generally, it is a cool, safe place to hang out, especially in the sunshine, and providing there's a little wind, you can usually find something to amuse yourself (if you have the right toys).

The beach at Borth from the Golf Course Car Park, looking North with Me kite-moutain-boarding and Jay landsailing in the distance.

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Ynyslas

Although the North end of Borth beach is technically in Ynyslas, the area we refer to when we say Ynyslas is that of the estuary formed by the River Dovey. To get to it, follow the road past the Golf Course Car Park. You can't go anywhere else and soon emerge onto the sands of the estuary itself. There is a charge of £1 per day for parking here but it's only enforced during the summer season.

The sands of the estuary can provide good kiting, landsailing and kite-mountain-boarding/ buggying conditions, and 2 hours either side of high tide, flat water blasting windsurfing is possible. Its also a fairly safe place for beginners at high tide (but keep away from the estuary mouth and beware of the currents once the tide starts to drop).

One little secret to bear in mind is that in NE winds, the valley formed by the Dovey estuary can accelerate the wind... There have been occasions when I've been planing with a 5.5m sail here while smoke rises vertically from the chimneys a mile away in Borth. Westerly winds can also be OK in the estuary and if you don't want to face dead onshore conditions at Borth, then head to Ynyslas. It's nice on occasion to sail from Ynyslas to Aberdovey on the other side of the estuary for an ice-cream.

Recently we have also been sailing in the estuary at low tide in one of the channels near the point. In a dead westerly or easterly wind, the channel here can be used as a good, safe speed Channel

Me and my (now sold) 2.8m Predator kite at Ynyslas.

Borth Bog

The diverted River Leri runs in a S-N direction right through the middle of Borth Bog. It is accessible at its southern end by crossing the Golf Course and then the railway line, or from its northern end near the road bridge at Ynyslas. As soon as conditions allow we intend to use the 3 km long, 30m wide channel as a windsurf Speed channel. Hopefully we can measure out a 500m strip and time ourselves to get an idea of our speed... Watch this space.

The Borth Bog Speed Channel (River Leri)

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