Hele Bay is an old smugglers cove and located in the stunning coastal town of Ilfracombe. It’s still a little hidden gem of North Devon and as such is often less crowded than Croyde Bay. 

After a short walk from our meeting point (the Hele Bay public car park) we head off to start your epic adventure.

Due to the formation of the cliffs here and a natural deep-water shelf, it allows us to access some really big jumps (10m / 30ft roughly). Often the scrambles up to the jumps are more challenging and many of our swims involve us being close to the Bristol channel, with it's swell and the world’s 2nd biggest tidal range. This kicks up the washing machine experiences too!! We highly recommend this route if you are confident in the ocean, up for a challenge and most importantly, want to send it of some big jumps!

We are very lucky with the Hele Bay route that we often get 2 stunning views. The first is of the beautiful Ilfracombe harbour, which is truly staggering when looked at from the ocean. The second, on a clear day is across the Bristol channel to see the Welsh coastline of Pembrokeshire.

When the tides and flat conditions align, Hele can be explored to its fullest potential with our 4hr epic tour.! From Hele Bay to Rapery Cove and back along the Southwest coast path, this trip includes snacks, water along the way and the longest coasteering route available in Hele Bay.