Delightful cottage with all mod cons, less than five minutes walk from the beach and a short walk from bouldering in a rocky cove.
OK, the advert for the holiday cottage I rented for my family holiday on Anglesey didn’t read like this. Perhaps the ad should have. It was great being able to do a little bouldering on the beach and an added selling point for staying in that part of Anglesey.
It was actually a happy coincidence that I happened to be staying close to a small bouldering venue. It was only after I’d booked the cottage that I found out about the bouldering at Lon Isallt Bay when I was researching the bouldering on Anglesey on UKClimbing.
Lon Isallt Bay is a small, pretty and sheltered cove on the Holy Island part of Anglesey between Porth Dafarch and Trearddur Bay.
There are a few short sections of crag above a pebble and sand beach. Plus, there’s another small crag on the promontory between Lon Isallt Bay and Porth-y-post.
What I really liked about bouldering there was that the Bay was quiet, the landings were flat and I could just pick a bit of rock to climb about on. It was also relaxing and cool to climb straight off a beach.
On the downside, the crag at the back of the Bay has some loose rock that I had to watch out for. There was also a lot of Sea Ivory lichen on the upper sections of the crag at the back of the Bay and on the crag towards Porth-y-post. At times all these crunchy, brittle tufts made me feel like I was climbing on rock coated in Shredded Wheat and caused me to worry my feet might slip off the rock.
Despite the interesting flora, Lon Isallt Bay was a fun place to climb. I hope to go back, and if next year’s summer holiday takes me to the beach, I will definitely have to see if there is any bouldering nearby.
Directions
Lon Isallt Bay is the next cove with a beach southeast of Porth Dafarch and is just outside the town of Trearddur Bay. On my OS 1:25,000 map it’s named Porth y Corwgl.
The road between Porth Dafarch and Trearddur Bay runs close to Lon Isallt Bay, but it’s not that easy to see if you’re passing in a car. What is more obvious is a house called Moryn that sits alone above the Bay.
In a dip in the road near this house is a footpath to the Bay, but this was impassably overgrown when I was there. An easier alternative is to walk over to Lon Isallt Bay from Porth-y-post.
UKClimbing suggests parking at the bend in the road near Moryn, but to me this seems like a tight spot to park. The alternatives seem to be to park on the road at Porth-y-post or to park at Porth Dafarch. The walk from Porth-y-post is less than five minutes while the walk along the coastal path and then the road from Porth Dafarch is about fifteen to twenty minutes.
the Severe climber 
I don’t normally boulder but that does look like the sort of thing I’d happily play around on – although I don’t have a mat so perhaps not so high! 😉 A walk in and back out again will be a good way to relax and cool down the muscles I think,
Carol.
Bouldering is great, but you’re right that a mat is a good idea. Maybe a bit of traversing? All the fun, but half the height.
A great thing about beachside bouldering is that you can go for a paddle in the sea to cool your hot feet off after climbing.
Best wishes,
Robin
Nice place to boulder, was it tidal. Used to do the same in some Cornish bays at low tide. Never had the courage for DWS.
Only the black rocks on the southeast of the bay looked tidal. The little crags at the back of the bay and on the land above it weren’t.
I was tempted to try some DWS there, but the rock above the water at low-ish tide was pretty smooth and I decided not to try it. Maybe I will somewhere where the water is warmer.