Dart Harbour opens new swim zone
Dart Harbour has officially opened a new swim zone in central Dartmouth, on the UK south coast, situated outside the Harbour Office on South Embankment.
The designated area, designed to enhance safety and accessibility, includes additional ladders, signage, and a floating swim platform. This initiative responds to the limited recreational options for ten to 16 year-olds in the area.
“This quay has been used for many years by local young people to cool off in the summer months, and we wanted to provide a much better facility for them,” says Harbour Master Paul Britton. “We’ve now fully enclosed it to provide a dedicated area for swimming and added additional ladders and signage for safety.
“To make it more fun, a floating swim platform gives an alternative place to warm up for a few minutes, and to give a new opportunity to jump in.
“Dartmouth has a fairly limited range of activities for 10 to 16-year-olds, and so we expect this site to be very popular, and a great addition to the town.”
Britton told MIN: “A few boat owners have raised concerns about people in the water in general; however, the comments we have had from boat owners who have seen the swim zone in place have been universally positive—to the extent that many of them have used the swim area themselves.”
The swim area will be buoyed off during the summer season only. The adjacent yacht club pontoon is also a seasonal facility.
Local broadcaster and marine biologist Monty Halls commented on Instagram: “In times of Health and Safety, of wrapping ourselves and our loved ones in cotton wool, in risk avoidance, can I just tip my hat to the folks of @dartharbour who have created a special area off the quay wall so kids can indulge in the oldest and greatest of all past-times – jumping into the sea from a decent height. Was I also one of these kids? Ah yes, yes I was.”
Dart Harbour says it is good to note that the newly designated bathing water site nearby at Warfleet Creek has been regularly achieving water quality that meets excellent standards in the weekly Environment Agency checks.
Swimmers should, however, remember that the site is a natural river. The water is mainly very deep, and there is a tidal current. It is not safe to dive close to the quay at low tide. Check the signage for further information. There is no lifeguard, and parents should supervise their children when using the swim zone.
Dart Harbour is a trust port, a statutory harbour authority, set up as an independent non-profit organisation, which looks after the whole Dart Estuary, from the sea to Totnes.
Britton says: “We encourage swimming in other areas on the Dart—we recently supported the introduction of four designated bathing water sites on the river. Outside of Dartmouth, we don’t have the same issues of extremely busy quaysides with no safe swimming areas nearby, so there is currently no need to create dedicated swimming areas at other locations on the estuary, but we will monitor this in the future.”
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