Rivers

Kayaking at Morriston Weirs

Swansea University has extremely good access to rivers in the UK, there are rivers of all grades to suit all paddlers, but we don't just stick to Swansea, we go all over the UK, and the more experienced paddlers often organise trips abroad during the Summer. Here's just a few of the rivers we paddle...

We have river boats of all shapes and sizes to suit everyone's needs!

Cardiff International White Water (CIWW)

We're only an hour away from CIWW which is a man made white water course providing an excellent training facility for river running. We organise regular trips to the centre throughout the academic year and Friends of SUCC also organise trips over the summer.

CIWW is excellent for confidence building, if you're feeling nervous and would like to be more confident on moving water, this is the place for it! There are of course still dangers, but it's a controlled environment with a nice warm shower waiting for you when you're finished!

Scotland

Every year the club takes a trip up to Scotland in the first week of the Easter break to take advantage of the excellent range of rivers & lochs for all abilities. The trip is normally 10 days, with the first half in the Perth area and the second half we move up towards Fort William.

Scotland isn't all about the paddling, it's essentially a 10 day long party with plenty to do even if you don't fancy getting wet... there is usually at least one day skiing/boarding in one of Scotlands' "resorts"... there's also ice climbing, hiking, go karting, biking, swimming, saunaing... Activities vary from year to year based on where we are staying and how many people there are. The more people that come the more we can do and the cheaper it gets!

It all kicks off with a pre scotland party held the Friday before we leave... we then meet at the shed at around 12pm on Sunday and load up the minibuses, vans, cars and trailer before hitting Pub on the Pond for a meal... for the non drivers the next 8 hours of your life will be very hazy as we head on up to the river Tay for a gentle dawn paddle before heading to a shop to stock up on the essentials, beer, food and toilet paper.

If you're just starting out don't expect to paddle every day as this is a trip for all abilities and the safety team pay the same as everyone else for the trip and so get to go and play on some of the harder rivers while everyone else finds something else to do, like skiing.

The trip normally costs around £280 (which includes all transport, food and accommodation!) so make sure you save some of your loan for this trip - the Scotland organisers (usually 2 members of the current committee plus 2 people who have organised Scotland in the past) will be in touch with more details!

What to bring

You can find some general advice on what to bring on the trips page.

Club Rivers

Here's a few of the rivers we sometimes paddle as a club.

  • CIWW
  • River Neath (South Wales) (Grade 2/3 (4))
  • River Usk (South Wales) (Grade 1/2)
  • Afon Teifi (West Wales) (Grade 1/2/3/4/5)
  • Afon Tryweryn (North Wales) (Grade 2/3/4)
  • 'Lower Tawe' (Swansea) (Grade 1/2)
  • Sawdde (Nr. Swansea) (Grade 2-4)
  • Afon Tywi (West Wales) (Grade 2-3)

Advanced Rivers

Afon Mellte

And some more entertaining local rivers for more experienced paddlers.

  • Afon Mellte (Grade 4/5 (Waterfalls))
  • Afon Cwm Du (Grade 4)
  • Afon Dylais (Grade 3/4)
  • Afon Nedd Fechan (Grade 4/5)
  • Afon Twrch (Grade 3/4)
  • Upper Middle Tawe (Grade 3/4)
  • Tawe Gorge (Grade 5)
  • Tawe Moors (Grade 3/4/5+)
  • Middle Tawe (Grade 3)
Afon Mellte