If you get a buzz out of doing scary stuff, then give coasteering a bash. Gayle Ritchie tests the waters off Seaton cliffs
Rock-hopping, shore-scrambling, wave-riding, cave-exploring and jumping off cliffs – put them all together and you get coasteering.
One of those activities alone might be daunting. All four together has me pondering why on earth I signed up for this madness as I squeeze into a skintight wetsuit and join a group of breavehearts getting stuck into the action at Seaton cliffs, north of Arbroath.
Our guide for the session is Olly Baylis, a veritable Bear Grylls of a man – handsome, imposing and most importantly, reassuring in his chat.
“Have you tried coasteering before?” he asks all seven of us, and it seems that everyone has, bar me.
Walking down to the foreshore in trainers, he warns us to be careful of the slippery seaweed. Luckily his back is turned as I flounder and stumble over the rocks.
The first test is to fling ourselves into the water from a low-level rocky outcrop.
Three whooping teenage lads, keen to show how it’s done, go first.
Following their example, I throw myself in sideways. The shock of cold hits me as I plunge into the water, and I swim to the side and scrabble back onto the rocks.
Olly is full of encouragement and singing everyone’s praises.
From there, we clamber over more rocks until we reach a slightly higher outcrop, and again, we chuck ourselves in, one by one.
The point here is that we gradually get used to flinging ourselves in so that when we’re faced with bigger cliffs, we should be ready.
Confidence building, we carry on round the foreshore, via a combination of swimming and clambering until we reach the daddy of all cliffs – the nine metre bad boy.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” reassures Olly. It does look quite tricky – you jump from the cliff down into a narrow inlet, and if you get it wrong…
Ultimately, four out of seven of us take the plunge, with Olly pointing out a slightly less high point for the rest of us to tackle.
At just over eight feet, it’s high enough for me. I close my eyes as I step off into nothingness and let out a bloodcurdling scream as I fall. It’s brilliant.
Why do this? For the sheer buzz of it!
Jumps completed, smiles all round, we swim into some cool sea caves and explore. Olly points out a huge crab and a star fish in a pool, as well as some stalactites hanging from the cliff ceiling.
If the tide was slightly different, we would’ve been able to get right through into another cave network, but that’s for another day.
Back out at sea, we check out a blowhole through which the water shoots, producing a strange gurgling sound.
And then we float out to ride some waves, experiencing the raw power of the sea.
The beauty of coasteering is that it’s fab exercise, although you’re having so much fun you don’t even realise you’re getting a workout, and one that’s oh so much better than the gym.
The water is a balmy 11C right now, so you don’t really feel the cold.
At no point are you made to feel that you must jump and if you’d prefer to simply clamber and swim round the foreshore, you’re more than welcome to do so.
Ultimately, coasteering is probably the best liquid refreshment in the world.
It’s also about discovering wildlife and the breathtaking Angus coastline at close-quarters; an intimacy that walkers never experience.
One word of warning though – never consider attempting coasteering without an experienced guide, like Olly, of Vertical Descents.
info
To try coasteering for yourself, visit www.verticaldescents.com or call 01397 747111.
