Despite living in close proximity to the Swansea Valley Canal and being aware that you could hire canoes and kayaks from the Swansea Canal Society, I’d never actually attempted to give them a try. Well not until this weekend that is!
Motivated by wanting to do something different than going for the usual Sunday morning run/bike ride and having been impressed by the Gold medal heroics of Team GB’s Joe Clarke in the kayak, we decided to pay the canal society a visit at their hut in Coed Gwilym Park in Clydach (SA6 5NX).
Thankfully families are catered for with a range of canoes and kayaks (single and double) available. The prices are decent prices too, with canoes costing £7, a double kayak £5 and a single £4. Not bad for 45 minutes of enjoyment on the picturesque Swansea valley canal.
It was great fun and with the canal being suitable for using kayaks from Coed Gwilym all the way to Trebanos rugby club, there is plenty of waterway to explore and enjoy.
The volunteers who run the hire are a friendly bunch and gave us all a quick demo on how to use the paddles correctly, whilst ensuring we’d fitted our life jackets properly.
Despite some initial wobbles, due to my poor balancing skills on the single kayak, I (thankfully) managed to avoid falling into the water. Although even if I had, the water level is probably not much more than waist deep in the majority of places.
The canoes and kayaks are available to hire every Sunday, from Easter Sunday to the last Sunday in September between the hours of 11am and 3pm.
During the school holidays, hire is also available on a Tuesday, so if you’re looking for something to keep the kids and yourself occupied then I’d highly recommend a visit.