UKC

Climbs 184
Rocktype Limestone
Altitude 4m a.s.l
Faces S

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Ken Palmer mucking about on a Climber's Club meet © henry castle

Crag features

The Coastguard cliffs refer to the south-facing area beneath the Coastguard Station. An underrated deep water soloing crag which additionaly boasts good, fast drying and easy access trad at Red walls .

Oz wall and White Rhino Tea Buttress provide classics as good as anywhere else in the Southwest (all of which are bird banned 1 March to 31 July except Relay and rotutes to its east), and the cliffs further east (Swashbuckler, Cloud Buttress etc) provide a range of good deep water solo routes which are NOT covered by the 1 March to 31 July ban! 

A free topo of the eastern dws and most of the trad available here- https://javu.co.uk/Climbing/Guides/ 

 

Approach notes

Follow signs for Brixham. On approaching the town, pick up the brown tourist signs for Berry Head and follow them to the car park on the headland (fee- up to £7 for 4 hours+).

The BMC access advice below is for the whole Berry head area - only points 2 & 3 apply here. 

 

Restricted Access

It is important that climbers wanting to deepwater solo on these crags MUST call Brixham Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre on (01803) 882 704 before descending to the base of the cliffs. Climbers have caused a number of false call outs in the past - this creates significant problems for the rescue service and may jepordise future access on the Nature Reserve.

Seasonal Restrictions

Dates: 1 March to 31 July

Reason: Nesting Birds

Berry Head is becoming a mecca for deep water soloing, but it is also an important breeding site for many seabirds. Historically, access was completely restricted during breeding but thanks to the efforts of local climbers, the BMC and Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust, the restriction has been made variable. This means it will be lifted as soon as nesting has been completed. The variable restriction has been granted on the condition that the following is adhered to:

1) The Great Cave and pitch 1 of Rainbow Bridge is still covered by the restriction (1st March to 31st July) and NO ACCESS is permitted. This is because the birds frequent the large platform. The standard approach for Rainbow Bridge (and The Great Cave) crosses this platform and will disturb the birds so climbers must choose one of the following options: a) Abseil from the metal post en route to The Great Cave (just beyond a red access notice) to an in-situ thread at the end of pitch 1. b) Down-climb HVS rock just to the left (looking out) of the post. This is not recommended for those who don't know the route.

2) The final Terminal Zawn (pitch 11) is still restricted. A marker just before this shows the extent of the ban. Climbers should exit up VS territory above the marker.

3) Access restrictions still apply to the following: - White Rhino Tea Buttress (Barnacle Traverse Continuation) - The Oz Wall - The Ledges above the Oz wall, beyond the Terminal Zawn. - The Great Cave and Bismark Wall. Markers have been positioned at both ends of the "open" section and these will show whether or not you are allowed on the traverse. This can be checked by contacting the Berry Head Rangers office (01803 882619).

Please contact the ranger if you are confused about cliff accessibility. A few other considerations: If you fall into the sea (during the restricted nesting season) getting out is now much more problematic as you must NOT get out at the Great Cave ledge (doing so would disturb the nesting birds). Those concerned by this should opt to abseil in (see b above) - doing this allows you to leave a rope through the in-situ thread at the base of the abseil to facilitate pulling out of the sea....or make the big swim to the ‘ Red Walls’ area.

Forrest Gump and Karmacoma have been re-climbed after the rockfall. Grades unchanged and rock is stable.
Kafoozalem - 20/Aug/15
Barnacle Traverse has never been banned as long as you top out before the White Rhino Tea Buttress (ie. the original finish. Barnacle Traverse Continuation is banned since it lies below White Rhino Tea. Forrest Gump and Karmacoma are not banned but appear to have suffered rockfall this winter and so need reclimbing.
Kafoozalem - 26/Jun/14
Hi, now that Barnacle Traverse is not bird banned is this the same for the climbs around Forrest Gump?
Mr Tickle - 25/Jun/14
https://vimeo.com/49613643 Video of our short trip down here.
Stanners - 23/Sep/12
I'm struggling to find the lines Living Zawn, Holy Mackerel, Tied Line and Placebo. Are they in the narrow overhanging zawn towards the Eastern Shelf? If they are i'm really struggling to pick out which lines they take, could anyone enlighten me?
Mr Tickle - 19/May/12
I have added photo topo's to the picture gallery which should explain all.
Kafoozalem - 16/Nov/09
Is there a sketch map anywhere to show how to get down to the Oz Buttress? Spent a futile couple of hours walking back and forth to try to find flat topped white rock as mentioned in the guidebook.
Pay Attention - 06/Aug/09
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