Cold Water Swimming on a Writing Retreat in Pembrokeshire

There’s a wonderful documentary about swimming in Hampstead Ponds that contains one of my favourite descriptions of cold water swimming ever: “Below ten degrees is cold. Below five degrees is fucking cold.”

For anyone thinking of joining my Writing, Meditation & Digital Detox Retreat this September, you’ll be pleased to know that the Pembrokeshire sea is currently a positively balmy 16 degrees!

In fact, September is when the sea is at its warmest, having slowly heated up over the summer. Unlike ponds and lakes, which can become “fucking freezing” remarkably quickly, the sea holds onto that warmth as we move into autumn.

Sea swimming on my Pembrokeshire writing retreats

On the September retreat, we’ll be a ten-minute walk from the gorgeous Pembrokeshire Coast Path. On the first day, I take everyone on one of my favourite walks, point out the best swimming spots, and then we all take a dip together. Some writers stand on the shore offering cheers of encouragement, which is also very welcome.

Sea swimming has become one of my favourite parts of running writing retreats in Pembrokeshire. I love the fact that the coast is close enough that we can simply decide to go for a swim rather than needing to make an expedition of it. We leave the house on foot and before long we’re standing at the edge of the water wondering why exactly we thought this was a good idea.

I’ve found cold water swimming such an important way to shake off the morning’s head-and-heart writing work, get back into the body, and reset.

Writing can be incredibly absorbing. On retreat, there are mornings when I look up from my own work and realise I’ve been sitting in almost exactly the same position for hours. There are other mornings when the writing has taken me somewhere emotionally difficult and I need to leave it behind for a while.

Getting into the sea is very good at making that happen.

However preoccupied I am with a paragraph or whatever else has been going on in my head, it becomes much harder to think about any of it when I’m standing waist-deep in the Irish Sea.

The rhythm of a writing retreat

This movement between focused writing and getting outside has become an important part of how I structure my retreats.

We spend the mornings in silence working on our individual projects until lunch. Having several hours with nowhere else to be gives writers the chance to settle properly into their work, rather than trying to squeeze writing into the gaps between everything else.

By lunchtime, people are usually ready to come back together. In the afternoon, we head out onto the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and, for those who want to, into the sea.

There is no expectation that anyone swims. Some people are enthusiastic cold water swimmers already. Others decide to brave it for the first time. And some sensibly remain fully clothed on shore.

Afterwards, we walk back to the Old Rectory and warm up in the hot tub, followed by afternoon tea baked by our wonderful retreat cook.

Then we return to our writing.

Writing. Silence. Sea swims. Coastal walks. Cake. And then back to the page.

Join me on a writing retreat in Pembrokeshire this September

If this sounds like something you need, there are just two spaces left on my 20–25 September Writing, Meditation & Digital Detox Retreat in Pembrokeshire: one twin and one private room.

You can find out more about the retreat and book your place here.

Hello, I’m Holly.

I offer creative writing retreats in Pembrokeshire, online writing groups, book mentoring and editorial support for writers at every stage.

I’d love to hear from you. If you have any questions about my retreats or how you can work with me, please contact me below.