January brings the most swell of the Welsh year and the most wind with it. The Atlantic lows come through one after another, and on the majority of days the open west end of the Gower is too big, too messy or both.
That is when the south side earns its keep. Langland Bay faces south and wants a northerly, so the wind coming off the land in a cold January snap is the wind it has been waiting for. Its best month is this one, at two clean days out of thirty, and those two days are worth the drive precisely because they are the only two on the peninsula.
The crowd follows the same logic. A south-facing bay with a northerly offshore is often the only thing breaking properly in south Wales, so the car park fills and the line-up with it. The water is at 8°C: 4/3, boots and a hood, and the session ends when your hands do.
