ARE you the kind of person who likes throwing themselves off a cliff into a churning, grey ocean at the tail end of October?

When I asked myself this question from the safety of a comfy chair at the end of the summer, my response was – why not? Weeks later, poised on a precipice of rock, high above the sea in a heavy, dripping wetsuit, for the final and highest leap, I asked myself the question a second time. Could I do this? And why was I doing it?

I was spending the weekend at Preseli Venture – two days of adventure on the stunning Pembrokeshire coast, based in a rural eco-lodge just 15 minutes’ walk from the sea. Between Fishguard and St David’s, this is the wild west of Wales.

The county has around 250 miles of coast, with towering sea cliffs, a multitude of islands, rolling hills, pockets of mysterious, mossy woods, sweeps of moorland and enticing mountains. Rich with wildlife, soaked in history, Pembrokeshire seems to glimmer with magic.

This is a landscape embroidered with myths and legends, the birthplace of saints, the setting for tales of King Arthur. Preseli is even reputed to be the origin of the bluestones making up Wiltshire’s own Stonehenge. It is also an ancient landscape, and nearly all the rocks underlying it were formed before the Carboniferous period, 290 million years ago.

The cliffs present a marvellous spectacle, a geological artwork of coal-black, slate, rust and turquoise, sometimes veined with a crystalline white. White surf crashes against them, while miniature worlds unfold in rock pools at their feet. Yes, I like this place.

But it was dark when I arrived, one Friday night. The train journey from Swindon for Fishguard takes around four hours with a change at Swansea, a long but straightforward journey. Staff from Preseli Venture picked us up from the station in a mini bus, which was the moment I realised I appeared to be the only person of a certain age, amongst a whole crowd of loud, enthusiastic and excessively young American university students. Forget the cliff-jumping - this might be the biggest challenge.

At the Eco-lodge, I was allotted a small but charming room with a comfy futon bed on a mezzanine. This is hostel accommodation, with shared showers and toilets, but smart and clean.

Across the yard was a communal living space with a welcoming wood burner heating the room, and a delicious pasta dinner. To my relief, a final guest appeared, another woman of a similar vintage to myself. By the end of the weekend, we were friends for life.

The food at Preseli Venture is fantastic. With hearty cooked breakfasts in the morning, soup and baked potatoes for lunch, curry or pasta in the evenings, limitless salad, fruit and bread, with homemade cakes and delicious desserts, you would never go hungry. Even with appetites sharpened by cold and intense physical activity, we had more than enough to eat and the food was freshly prepared, prompt and plentiful. The staff are happy to accommodate dietary requests, and being a pesky vegan was no barrier to excellent eating at Preseli Venture.

I was signed up for three half-day activities as part of the dauntingly titled Adrenalin Cocktail Weekend.

First up, hiking. As a keen walker, and having explored some of the Pembrokeshire coast path before, this was a pleasurable easing-in to the adventure. A party of 12, we were handed maps and directions and dropped off some seven miles from the lodge. This was a three-hour walk, with the usual coast-path quota of climbs, wide views and picturesque, pebbly coves.

The group soon spread out, and we enjoyed a peaceful if strenuous walk past ancient ruins, through a harbour village and over cliff tops offering spectacular vistas of rocks and islands. Sadly, we did not spot any seals or dolphins; the best wildlife encounter involved a bold robin posing for my admiration on a fence post, by the harbour.

After lunch, we donned wetsuits, buoyancy aids and helmets for sea kayaking. We set off in our kayaks from Fishguard Harbour, a suitable calm and sheltered spot for a first go. With patient and cheery instructors, even the more nervous among us felt confident and soon after completing some elementary training, we were off.

Hugging the cliffs, we explored caves and inlets, learnt a little about the local wildlife and even enjoyed an on-board hot chocolate from a flask carried by our leaders. That evening the students enjoyed a bonfire and marshmallows outside, and I was more than content to collapse into an armchair by the woodburner.

My final challenge was coasteering. I had not heard of coasteering before planning the trip to Preseli. The photographs on the website looked exciting. They show people leaping from great heights into the ocean, and it describes cliff scrambling, cliff jumping, climbing, rock gully swimming, wave riding and cave exploration. What I was most worried about, in anticipation, was being cold.

As it turned out, this was not a problem. You wear a wetsuit, wetsuit socks, shorts and vest, along with trainers on your feet, a helmet and buoyancy aid. Although I cannot say the coasteering experience was warm (your head goes deep under the water far too often for that) it truly was not cold either.

We scrambled down to the sea, and jumped into the water. Over the next couple of hours, we played in waves that crashed into nooks and gullies in the cliffs, swam around little rocks and promontories, rode waves, climbed over rocks, and yes, jumped from heights.

It was a little scary at first, feeling the power of the waves as they hurled themselves against the rocks, but you just let yourself go and give up being afraid, and instead feel the indescribable power of the water, and see the complex and beautiful cliffs, and the cascades of white water, and the deep blue sky overhead. Truly it is hard to be more immersed in or at one with the landscape than this.

The jumps start small. You leap, the water closes over your head, and then you bob up again. The next jump is higher. We did about half a dozen, and the last one was indeed high up. I was tired by then, legs flagging from the effort of hauling myself in the heavy wetsuit up onto rocks and peaks. A few of our party declined the final jump but there was no way I was not going to do this. The trick is not to stare at the distance too long. Take the leap, and plummet down and down, falling long enough to have thoughts about it, and then crash into the embrace of the water.

The journey home was long and tiring – some six hours with a train that stopped at every tiny settlement and a dreaded rail replacement bus for part of the journey – but the experience was unforgettable.

Over the course of the weekend, I chatted to several of the young students and they were an absolute delight.

The price of being kept awake at night by their larking was more than made up for by their good spirits and enthusiasm about everything we did.

Preseli is a five-star Eco-lodge so sustainability is a key part of its operation.

As well as the Adrenalin Cocktail weekends, it has a whole programme of events for solo travellers, parties, families and so on.

I came back exhausted, with aching muscles and raw finger tips.

Would I go again? Hell, yes.

For more information, visit Preseli Venture.