north wales camping

[law]

does anyone have experience of camping on shell island near llanbedr there website looks good.300 acres tents only fires allowed on the beaches just wondered if any bushcrafty folk had camped there any adice would be cool cheers

 

[Geoffrey_Bubbles]

I've camped a fair bit in south wales on the gower and a couple of times quite near snowdon and love wales for getting away from it all. Could you tell me the website? I'm intrigued myself...

Cheers
Geoff

 

[law]

no problem mate its www.shellisland.co.uk

 

[gorilla]

been to shell island loads - for starters, forget the official site, it's rarely updated, and tells you very little. try this link for a much better idea of what it is like;

http://www.shellislandcampers.co.uk/index.php

i'll try to give you an idea of what it offers;
first, the place is massive - pitches range from big fields that you share with loads of other tents, to tiny little enclosed pitches with room for one tent. my advice is to spend a bit of time driving round the island to find a spot that you like. (and don't just stick to the roads - there are loads of good places that you can't see from them)

if you want the best choice of the private little pitches, then don't go at peak times - school hols etc.

you can build fires anywhere on site, as long as they are off the ground and contained - firepit etc

there are miles off beaches - good for foraging - shellfish etc

any type of tent is good - bivvys, tipis, anything - if you want to sleep under it, then you can!

the 20-yard pitching rule is well observed - but if you go as a group with more than one tent, you can all pitch close together in a circle.

despite what you may read on other forums, the facilities are fine - if you want marble sinks and shiny taps, then camping really isn't for you - i tend to think that negative comments made about the facilities are from the type of campers who like to pitch around the edge of a square field and plug their tv into the electric post behind the tent!!

miles of sand dunes - plenty of maram grass etc - good for tinder

in short, shell is easily the best campsite in the country, and as close as you can get to camping in the wild without the risk of coming back to find the contents of your camp have been nicked (an experience i'd rather forget!)

get in touch if there's anything else you want to know!

 

[tommy the cat]

I've been there loads of times but find it usually toooo busy. But saying that my missus is a teacher so we have to go main holidays.Facilities are ok certainly good enough for us perhaps not enough of them at busy times.Been to better sights around the LLyn but most will not allow fires....depends on your priorities if I'm camping in a commercial site then views, close to the coast/on the beach,nearest pub,and facilities will be my priority over a fire as I can have a bbq.
But anyway anything you want to know let me know and I'll try and help, oh and I would leave your hammock at home!
dave

 

[law]

thanks for the advice guys i camped there last weekend with the family got my first chance to use my bison tundra 8.was the only tipi there got alot of interest.i found the site very good u cud defo have a small meetup there do some shoreline bushcraft.was on the beach late afternoon evening time with my young son playing diggers and all you cud smell and see were small bbqs/fires going. great place for kids the sand dunes are very cool,saw loads of secluded places to camp a small strip of birch and goat willow looked a great place to hang a tarp and hammock.the shops and camping store are well stocked though i wud prob bring my own firewood . the boozer on site is a bonus after a long days foraging will be defo visiting shellisland again soon.

 

[dwardo]

I love th place but stay well away at any busy time as mentioned above as the place can get rammed

PS look out for the glow worms