It's all well and good knowing that this land of green valleys, Atlantic coast and wild open spaces is an escape hatch for office bound adventurers, but sometimes it can be slightly overwhelming when considering where to start. Claire Copeman, from our North Wales activity specialists, Adventure Tours UK, may well have the answer.
Claire and her husband, Jim are part of the outdoor adventure scene in North Wales. Jim grew up in the area and used to be the mountain bike officer for Denbighshire County Council. He helped to set up and plan many of the region's wild mountain biking routes. He knows loads of local guides and instructors who can look after small groups on active adventures, and not just mountain biking.
North Wales has several small companies offering individual activities like sea kayaking, coasteering, mountain biking or zip lining, but hardly any offering multiple activities in one trip. And that's where Claire and Jim come in. They work with the small activity companies, the local guides and the locally-owned accommodation hosts, to give visitors a complete multi-activity package. As Claire explains:
“There are now lots of husband and wife businesses who are activity providers or welcoming people into their small guesthouses or boutique hotels. We know and work with a couple, Lianne and Ant, who run their own stand up paddle boarding (SUP) company. They're really passionate about the area and are just lovely people. They're now the top provider of white water stand up paddle boarding in the UK. They also host the White Water SUP Fest every year which brings loads of SUPers from all over the world to North Wales. That's one of the great things about our company, we can bring these small providers and accommodation owners together and offer their services to travellers as part of the same package.”
By providing multi activity tours, Claire and Jim have made it easier for people to come to the area for longer and get involved in a wide range of different activities, rather than having to sort out everything for themselves. Claire goes on to say: “We've sort of taken the barrier away for people who work in an office but really want to be outdoors having an adventure. You only get one or two weeks to take off work a year, so people don't want to have to take up lots of time contacting lots of different activity providers.”
Meanwhile, down south on the Pembrokeshire coast, Sophie Hurst, from our Welsh coastal activity experts, Preseli Venture, is also very much a part of the outdoor adventure community. Sophie, like Claire, understands the importance of working with people who’ve lived in the area their whole lives. As Sophie says: “We run sea kayaking, adventure weekends and family holidays in Pembrokeshire. The majority of our guides are from the local area and will take part in all of the activities that we offer. Some of our longer trips, such as the four day sea kayaking expedition, require specialist instructors and senior guides, like Tommy. He’s our head guide and has lived in Pembrokeshire for many years. Tommy knows the tides and the coastline very well.”