Flybe / September 2018

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56 / Flight Time / SEPTEMBER 2018
Travel
F L I G H T D E TA I L S
Flybe has flights to Cardiff from Belfast City, Berlin-Tegel, Chambéry (winter
only), Cork, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Faro, Geneva (winter only), Glasgow,
Jersey, Milan, Munich, Paris CDG, Rome, Venice and Verona. Flybe’s franchise
partner Eastern Airways has flights to Cardiff from Aberdeen, Anglesey and
Newcastle.
low to left and right is extraordinary, offering
a taste of the kind of power that enables
adept kite boarders to sail high into the air.
Marc is accompanied by an exotic walking
advert for kite surfing in SouthWales – he’s
Yury Manzon, who returned with Marc from
a kite-surfing trip to Brazil, chose to stay, and is
perpetually euphoric about the conditions here.
Copacabana, eat your heart out!
on my belly I begin to understand why so
many find surfing so appealing. With time of
the essence, we move swiftly on to learning
to stand on the board as it rides the surf, with
some of the group getting the knack quite
quickly. It was not, however, my finest hour.
Given the good conditions and much
more competitive prices, this is for sure
a great alternative to Devon for both the
learner and more accomplished surfer.
And, just as surfing begat windsurfing,
snowboarding et al, so it also begat kite
surfing – by some distance the most
terrifying activity of the genre.
There is, quite simply, no way you could
ever progress in kite surfing as quickly as
we just had at “ordinary” surfing. For a start,
being able to surf is a prerequisite. But so too
is being able to fly a very large kite.
Marc Rowley, owner of Blast
Kiteboarding, takes us down onto the sand
and unfurls a “small” training kite – it’s great
fun to fly and the power as you fly the kite
PORTHCAWL
ON THE UP
Like so many seaside towns,
Porthcawl has seen better
times. But these days there’s a
real buzz about the place that
gives cause for optimism.
In the town centre, the old
commercial harbour is now
a marina, with new places
to eat and drink, housed in
the attractively-converted
warehouse buildings.
On the eastern promenade
is Coney Beach, where a
traditional funfair ensures the
town doesn’t have to hang its
hat only on the new breed of
adventure activity.
With no big brands in
town, this is the preserve
of the small hotel and
guesthouse, with many in the
attractive Victorian terraces
of Esplanade Avenue. Here
I enjoyed the delights of the
gloriously quirky, five-star Olivia
House ,
with its lavish faux-Français
décor and sumptuous Welsh
breakfast, not to mention a
sphinx cat in a dress.
There are plenty of good
bistro-style diners in town, of
which the Cosy Corner Lounge
(www.cosycornerlounge.
, with its rough
pine interior, sea views,
extensive gin collection and
imaginative, great-value
menu, is exceptional. Also
recommended is the Harbour
Bar and Kitchen (www.
),
beside the marina.
“It’s great fun to fly and
the power as you fly the
kite low to left and right
is extraordinary, offering
a taste of the kind of power
that enables adept kite
boarders to sail high
into the air”