Saturday is a busy morning so please give yourself plenty of time to park and register.

5:30am - Registration will open in Barmouth

7:00am - Briefing

7:30am - Start to enter the water

9:00am - first wave of coaches taking swimmers and spectators back to Barmouth (coaches run every 15 minutes)

You must be 18+ to swim in the Hurly Burly.

All swimmers and spectators must park at the start in Barmouth.

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PARKING AT THE FINISH OF THE SWIM.

Parking at the Start

Parking at the start in Barmouth is very simple as there are many parking spaces. Head to the Barmouth Main Car Park.

Please arrive early to find a space - Car Park, Mainu, Jubilee Rd, Barmouth LL42 1NF.

Parking at the Finish

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PARKING AT THE FINISH OF THE SWIM. After the swim, all swimmers and spectators will get a coach back to their car in Barmouth.

Accessible Parking

There are plenty of accessible parking spaces in Barmouth. Please email swim@levelwater.org if you would like an accessible parking pass. If you require parking at the finish, please contact us.We encourage car sharing as much as possible to keep traffic off the roads and help the event run smoothly. Please join the Hurly Burly Facebook Group to find people coming from your local area.

The Hurly Burly starts from a beautiful town called Barmouth. You’ll swim upriver to the George III pub in Penmaenpool.

There is no parking at the finish area so spectators and swimmers must all park in Barmouth.

The Swim Start

Barmouth Harbour, The Quay, Barmouth LL42 1HB

The Swim Finish

George III, Penmaenpool, Dolgellau LL40 1YJ (no parking available)

Traffic Management

Be aware that some of the roads around Barmouth will have traffic management running on them, clear diversions will be in place.

The Hurly Burly takes place on one of the most wild stretches of rivers in Snowdonia. It’s a great day out for the whole family.

Supporters are more than welcome but please be aware they need to follow a few rules to help make the day run smoothly for everyone.

Parking

All supporters will need to park in Barmouth and take a return shuttle bus to the finish and back. There is no parking at the finish area.

Buses

Supporter buses will all leave Barmouth at TBC. Buses will return from Penmaenpool every 15 minutes from TBC for swimmers and supporters.

Swimmer Pack

Your swimmer pack will be given to you when you register on the day or the evening before.

The pack contains:

Numbered wristband (must be worn)

Numbered baggage tag (if you wish to drop a bag)

Skins swimmer wristband (if accepted through the skins swimmer process)

Timing chip (to be worn around the ankle)

Water Bottles

Please bring your own bottle for water refilling so we use fewer cups.

Arrival

Registration will be open on Friday from 5 - 7pm. The Yacht Club will also be making a meal so swimmers can meet each other a socialise the night before the swim.

Saturday is a busy morning so please give yourself plenty of time to park and register if arriving on Friday.

Registration

Once you’ve arrived in Barmouth, head to the registration tent. Our amazing volunteers will check you in and check that you have your timing chip, give you your swimming hat and write your swimmers number on your hand.

YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ENTER THE WATER UNLESS YOU HAVE YOUR HAND NUMBER, YOUR WRISTBAND, TIMING CHIP AND YOUR SWIMMING HAT.

Baggage

You can either leave bags with your supporters or give them to us to look after. Please label with tags provided in your registration pack. We will look after all small (4kg max) bags. We will bring your bag to the finish for you to collect in Penmaenpool.

Refreshments

There will be food and drink available to purchase from the Yacht Club at the start and at the event village at the finish.

Changing

There’ll be no changing tents available so please arrive ready to swim. Please do not change in the loos as this creates long queues and is not fair on other participants who are waiting.

There are no official waves of swimmers so everyone will head to the beach together and be encouraged to enter the water dependant on your swim speed. Please listen carefully to the briefing before the swim.

Once you’re in the water, it’s up to you. Enjoy the atmosphere and don’t forget to look up every now and then and enjoy the scenery around you.

There will be a full water safety crew on the water at all times. If you need support or you notice another swimmer needs help, please alert one of the lifeguards. A full safety briefing will be provided before the swim in Barmouth.

Tow floats, fins, music, GoPros, in fact any “extra” kit are not allowed at this event.

Skins Swimmer

Confirmed skins swimmers must wear their skins wristband at all times. We recommend bringing a wetsuit as well, just in case.

The Yacht Club again will be serving teas and coffees from their boat house (next to the event village). They will not have a card machine available, so if you wish to buy a tea or coffee, please bring cash.

Once you triumphantly emerge from the river at George III, you’ll arrive on a small beach and make your way to the event village in the pub carpark. Here there’ll be food drinks and a well earned hot chocolate for your efforts. If you have friends/family meeting you at the finish, it’s worth giving them some warm clothes for you to wear on your return. Or pack some into your small (4kg max) bag for you to collect from us on arrival. There is no parking at the finish of the swim so you will need to take a coach back to your car in Barmouth.

If you have additional needs or require support exiting the water, please let us know before the event swim@levelwater.org

We will do everything we can to support swimmers with additional needs.

Access to and from the water’s edge is difficult. The closest a vehicle can reach the start line is around 100m, so a method of crossing this distance on wet sand will be needed.

The finish is on a beach and there is a short journey across uneven ground to the event village.

If you require adjustments (e.g. access for vehicle pick-up/drop-off at start and finish villages, or putting a wheelchair into the baggage van for you) then please ensure you record this in the “assistance” box of your registration form. If you could email swim@levelwater.org highlighting this, to ensure your specific needs are met, that would be helpful.

If you'd need more complex adjustments (eg assistance from a helper whilst you're in the water, exiting at the early exit point or any kind of mechanised / wheelchair access to and from the water), please email swim@levelwater.org and we will contact you to figure it out.

We will call anyone with needs before the swim to discuss the day with you.

If you have any concerns whatsoever about your medical fitness to participate, that you consult with your GP before taking part in the swim.

If you or any of your spectators have had diarrhoea/vomiting within 48 hours before the event, please do not attend. If you become unwell during the event, please let one of the team on site know and kindly head home from the event. (As long as it is safe to do so).

• Please bring personal medication if required (eg inhalers, epipens etc).

• It is important that you are aware of the symptoms of water-borne illnesses and do your best to look after yourself and reduce your risk of getting ill. Here’s an interesting article on the topic.

• If you’ve been diagnosed with a heart condition since buying your ticket, we kindly ask that you don't swim without your doctor's approval. This is for your own safety.

If you would like to swim in less than wrist-to-ankle neoprene, then you must fill out the skin swimmer form by clicking HERE. The deadline for submitting this form is the 30th April.

The returned skins swimmer application will be considered, and you will then be informed of our decision within a month. The team will be looking at 3 things:

• Previous documented experience of long-distance swimming without a wetsuit in similar temperatures, e.g., the Channel, Windermere one-way, BLDSA events, Swimtrek.

• Current training at similar temperatures (anticipated 11-14 degrees)

• Willingness to undertake a long-distance practice swim prior to the event of a similar distance and a similar temperature prior to the event, to ensure you do not become hypothermic.

You do not need to provide notarised evidence, logbooks of your experience or certificates of completion to evidence your experience. We will assess your experience based on your skin-swimming application form, completed by you. We work on the basis that your application is truthful. Where appropriate we verify this by looking at events’ official published results.

The decision of the water safety manager is final on wetsuits and no discussion can be entered into. We advise swimmers to be prepared to wear a wetsuit if asked. All swimmers agree to abide by the event rules.

The bottom line on skins swimmers is that we welcome experienced skins swimmers, who show (on their application form) recent experience and acclimatisation to these distances at this temperature, but we are not the place to do your first long skins swim (or your first long skins swim in a while) as you will not have individual safety support. This rule is for everyone's safety - safety cover is shared. Groups such as the BLDSA offer swims where you provide your own safety cover and are more appropriate for anyone trying a long-distance swim without a wetsuit for the first time.

Please note, your ticket is sold on a “wetsuit compulsory” basis, and if we are unable to grant you skins swimmer permission your ticket is not refundable.

You can find more information on water quality and reducing the risk of illness by clicking HERE.

Entry types

Charity Place

A charity place comes at a reduced fee (£70 instead of £120) and with a fundraising target of £250. All the money you raise goes towards 1-1 swimming lessons for children with disabilities across the UK.

General Entry

General Entry is £120 and gets you access into the Hurly Burly.

Volunteer & Swim

These tickets are very limited and give you reduced entry into the swim (£70 instead of £120) and you agree to volunteer when you are not swimming. You’ll also receive priority entry for the 2027 Hurly Burly.

If you do not volunteer, the charity will ask you to pay the additional amount of £50.

What’s included with your ticket?

The swim! Your entrance fee covers the costs of putting on a complex event like this, including swim safety cover, medical cover, timing/safety chips, baggage transfer, coach transfers and an event swim hat and gift.

Can I get a refund?

After the initial 14 day cooling off period we don’t offer refunds on tickets. If you cannot swim then you can transfer your ticket to someone else.

We have an adverse weather cancellation insurance policy. If this is triggered and pays out to us, we will be able to refund an equivalent proportion of your ticket price. The details of this policy are below.

Cancellation by us

Level Water works hard to deliver events that are as safe as possible. The safety of our participants and staff is always our priority. There are inherent risks and challenges of swimming in the sea, river or lakes, which can lead to situations where event cancellation, rescheduling or reformatting is required.

We may have to cancel an event if circumstances beyond our reasonable control arise, including, without limitation, war, civil or political unrest, terrorism, adverse weather or poor water quality.

We are not insured for all event cancellation eventualities.

If circumstances beyond our control require us to cancel the event, then Level Water has no responsibility for any costs you have incurred and unfortunately won’t be able to issue a refund on your ticket purchase unless it is weather related.

Cancellation insurance for adverse weather.

Level Water holds adverse weather event cancellation insurance for our 2026 events.

If we cancel the event due to adverse weather, we will file an insurance claim. If this is successful, the insurance payment will be used to issue refunds or partial refunds.

Whilst we’ve taken care to ensure that the policy includes relevant details, as with all insurance policies, the final discretion is with the insurer and therefore cannot be guaranteed.

The details of our insurance policy state that;

• The event can proceed in continuous moderate rainfall

• The event can proceed in wind speeds up to 20mph

• The event cannot go ahead in continuous heavy rainfall

• The event cannot go ahead in wind speeds over 20mph.

The policy excludes cover for cancellation, abandonment, disruption or rescheduling of the event directly or indirectly resulting out of, contributed to by, or in connection with fog, mist, low cloud or restricted visibility.

The policy covers extreme weather conditions which:

a) occur on the day(s) of the event and which are deemed by you or the event organiser on the day of the event to pose a serious threat to the safety of those attending the event;

and/or b) occur during the policy period and which result in conditions which the local authority consider to pose a serious threat to the safety of those attending the event;

and/or c) occur during the policy period and which prevent You or the event organiser from undertaking the necessary set up to enable the event to proceed due to: (i) concern for the safety of those responsible for the necessary set up, or (ii) reasons of physical impossibility

We have a process in place with South Wales Water Safety and the Barmouth Harbourmaster to ensure that we monitor the weather meticulously in the run up to the event. Level Water will take the decision, based on advice from South Wales Water Safety and the Barmouth Harbourmaster as to whether or not the swim is safe to go ahead.

We will communicate with you at the earliest possible opportunity if there is a risk of cancellation.

The Hurly Burly couldn’t happen without the support of our amazing volunteers. So if you’re a swimmer, supporter or just looking to help out please email volunteers@levelwater.org.

Alternatively, you can visit this page and fill out the form. We can never have enough volunteers, bring your friends and family and help make the magic happen. You will get a special gift too!