Hogfish Bay lies to the west of Clarence Cove. The climbing area can be seen from Hogfish Point west of the quay in Clarence Cove where the steps and caves are. From there you look across Hogfish Bay to the western point of it which is distinguished by an arch. Google Map. Topo at the bottom of this page. Unless otherwise indicated, first ascents and photos by Grant Farquhar. The rock here is softer than the neighbouring and more popular Clarence Cove.
The routes can be divided into traverses and up routes. The traverses are described first because the up routes mostly start via one of the traverses.
HOGWASH 5.10d 60m traverse
The sea level traverse from the entrance to the caves on Hogfish Point at the eastern side of Hogfish Bay all the way around the bay to the ledges underneath the finish of Bonsai Pipeline. Can be combined with Ambergris in Clarence Cove and The X Man Finish/ Death by Bongo Bongo to give a 150m traverse at 5.11+. Grant Farquhar 8 July 2015.
RIGHT TO LEFT TRAVERSES
Start from the point with the arch on the western side of Hogfish Bay.
DEATH BY BONGO BONGO 5.11c 25m traverse
The low-level right-to-left traverse of the entire wall. Traverses the entire wall from right to left taking the least line of resistance. Most of the following routes initially start along this before exiting at various points along the traverse. Traverse in from the landward side of the arch eastwards underneath and through the arch. Continue traversing along the shelf to a no-hands rest in a cave. Move left to a slot and rest beneath the arête of Night Dive. Climb down leftwards under the roof to look back out through the knee-bar slot from the inside of the first cave. Either crawl past the pigeons through a tunnel (Psittacosis City) into the second cave or reach the same point without contracting Pigeon Fancier’s Lung by traversing on the seaward side. From the back of the second cave climb the right (looking out) wall outwards until it is possible to turn the left arête/roof and gain the outside wall. Continue traversing left at this level until it is possible to climb directly up to the ledge below Pidgin Politics. Best above mid-tide because of the reef below the final section. On the first ascent there was a recently savaged headless pigeon in the cave of Night Dive and a Portugese Man O’War directly underneath the ledge of Pidgin Politics, finish up this. Decapitated pigeon Jellyfish soloing, the latest ‘extreme’ sport? Grant Farquhar 9 May 2008.
Variation: THE X-MAN FINISH 5.11c
After turning the arete/roof continue traversing at sea level all the way to the ledges below the finish of Bonsai Pipeline. Grant Farquhar 16/5/12.
BONSAI PIPELINE 5.11c 25m traverse
The obvious rising right to left traverse past the bonsai tree. Follow the above route to the slot and rest beneath the arête of Night Dive. Climb diagonally up and leftwards above the lip of the overhang to a horizontal rail and shake-out. Step leftwards to a good rest at the bonsai tree. The traverse now continues at this level before grovelling up onto a no-hands resting ledge. To finish either (i) Climb Pidgin Politics (recommended). (ii) Follow the ledge system leftwards to a tree and down-climb leftwards to ledges. (iii) Jump off into deep water. (iv) The original finish continued easily up and left to the top of the cliff but is loose and above a lower ledge system and is therefore not recommended. Grant Farquhar 22 August 2006.
HALF HOT 5.11c 11m
FULL HOT 5.11d 11m
Start as for Bonsai Pipeline. From the rest at the base of Night Dive, hand traverse the lip leftwards all the way from the right arete to the left arete and junction with Death by Bongo Bongo, finish as for this. Grant Farquhar 10 July 2015.
BONSAI HOTLINE 5.11d 11m height 25m traverse
The mid-level right-to-left traverse of the wall. Start as for High on the Hog to join Mrs Pedersen. Continue traversing down and left to the flat hand rail at the base of the crucial section of Fifty Shades of Pink. Continue leftwards onto the arete of Night Dive and finish as for Bonsai Pipeline. Grant Farquhar 3 Oct 2015.
BOSS HOG 5.12d 11m height 25m traverse
Seeks out the right-to-left traverse line of most resistance. Follow Bonsai Hotline to the junction with Fifty Shades of Pink. Climb the crucial section of Fifty Shades of Pink to the sloping crimps on High on the Hog. Finish along High on the Hog. Grant Farquhar 3 Oct 2015.
HIGH ON THE HOG 5.12b 25m traverse
The high level right-to-left traverse of the wall is sustained with a crimpy crux. Instead of traversing through the arch, step off the platform at the point and traverse the lip of the east side of the arch leftwards to a good rest on the landward arête. Continue traversing leftwards at mid-height to the base of a ragged pockety crack. Continue leftwards on pockets to cross the crucial pink wall high on crimps and gain large holds and a shake out on Night Dive. Take a rising diagonal line leftwards across the steep headwall passing Tortura Del Agua et al to a good shake in the obvious round pocket just left of the white streak of Narcosis. Continue leftwards across Verdigris, step slightly down to big holds on Pidgin Politics and finish as for this. This route subsumes Arch Enema (5.12a 2nd June 2009) which starts as for High on the Hog to finish as for Night Dive, Cargo Cult (5.11d 14/11/11) which starts as for Night Dive to finish as for Narcosis and an earlier version which finished as for Verdigris (13/8/15). Grant Farquhar 12 Sep 15. Second ascent Timothy Claude 9 Dec 2015.
LEFT TO RIGHT TRAVERSES
DEATH BY BONGO BONGO 5.11c 25m traverse
To climb this route in reverse (left to right) start from the ledges at the left end of the wall and reverse The X-Man Finish.
BONSAI PIPELINE 5.11c 25m traverse
To climb this route in reverse (left to right) start from the ledges at the left end of the wall and reverse The X-Man Finish.
FULL HATE 5.11d 11m
Full Hot can be climbed left to right starting via The X-Man Finish.
Grant Farquhar 26/10/15.
BONSAI HOTLINE 5.11d 11m height 25m traverse
Can be climbed left to right to finish as for Hogging the High.
Grant Farquhar 12/10/15.
BONSAI NIGHTLINE 5.12a 11m height 25m traverse
A rising left to right traverse which is a variation on Bonsai Hotline in reverse. Start from the ledges at the left hand end of the wall. Reverse Bonsai Pipeline to the no-hands rest the bonsai tree. Continue rightwards to make a rising traverse acrossGinger Stepchild onto Night Dive at the shake out on Hogging The High. Finish as for this. Grant Farquhar 13/10/15.
HOGGING THE HIGH 5.12b 25m traverse
The high level left-to-right traverse of the wall, mostly High on the Hog in reverse. Start from the mid-height ledge at the left side of the crag at the end of Death by Bongo Bongo below Pidgin Politics. From the right-hand end of the ledge make two moves up to large flat holds with feet on the lip. Traverse right across Verdigris to join Narcosis at the obvious circular hole left of the white streak. Continue rightwards and slightly downwards to gain large holds and a shake out on Night Dive. Bogart rightwards across the pink wall (crux) and continue over the arch to rock-over and top out on the RHS of the arch. This route subsumes Seagull Manager (5.11c 3rd Sep 2015) which starts as for Pidgin Politics to finish as for Narcosis and In the Pink (5.12a 15/9/15) which starts as for Night Dive to finish as for Hogging the High. Grant Farquhar 17/9/15.
THE UP ROUTES
The part of the bay between Hogfish Point and the Night Dive area (below) has the highest section of cliff here but the water underneath is very shallow. Two routes have been climbed and require the very highest tides. Even then Grant Farquhar fractured his calcaneum in 2020 hitting the reef on a high 1.3m tide while trying a, still unclimbed, new route above chest-deep water. Be warned.
The window area of Hogfish Bay. The water is very shallow. Photo Grant Farquhar.
TONGS YA BASS 5.12a R 15m
This route has excellent climbing but only very small windows of time to climb it on high spring tides. Start from the large square-cut window at the end of the man-made caves. Find some crimps at waist level on the right-hand (looking out) wall and use these to step left (facing in) onto the face left of the arete. Climb the steep wall left of the cave via long reaches on pockets and edges to a shake out prior to the exit onto the sloping shelf above. Grant Farquhar 27/11/19.
The next route lies east of the main climbing area and west of the man-made window into the caves. Swim from Hogfish Point to a dry ledge right of a small cave below the route.
TEDDY BOY 5.10d X 15m
The most obvious feature of this route is the diagonal crease in the right-hand side of the wall right of the window. From the starting ledge traverse left over the cave then climb up and right up the line of a vertical seam to jugs on the lip of the bulge. Continue via ledges and step left to the crease. Follow this up and right to finish. The water underneath is shallow and you need a tide greater than 1m. Falling off the upper section could result in striking ledges at half-height and at the base but jumping off may be OK. Grant Farquhar 19/9/20. Climbed while Hurricane Teddy was literally pounding the south shore.
The remainder of the routes start from the point with the arch on the western side of Hogfish Bay.
ARCHIE GEMMILL 5.10d R 10m
Scores a goal through the seaward side of the arch. Start from the west side of the arch and traverse the seaward wall through the arch to good holds underneath the centre of the arch before the arete. Dribble through the centre of the arch to big holds on High on the Hog and continue directly above the arch to top out on the fossilised palmetto trunk. High tide only. Grant Farquhar 1 Nov 2015.
CLARK KENT 5.10a R 10m
Follow Death by Bongo Bongo/ Bonsai Pipeline through the arch. Climb the arete left of the arch trending leftwards to the top. There is a patch of reef in the vicinity of the landing zone so it’s best to climb at high tide and avoid uncontrolled high dives. Paul Van Rensburg 2003.
ATAVAR 5.10b 10m
Atavar (noun). The atavistic blue skinned larger than life primitive alter-ego manifested by mixing a Scottish person with alcohol.
Climbs the (unsurprisingly) overlooked white streak right of the finishing crack of Trouble and Strife.Follow Death by Bongo Bongo/ Bonsai Pipeline until beneath the white streak. Move up to gain High on the Hog and continue directly via the white streak to top out via 2 small trees. Can also be started along High on the Hog (15/11/10). Grant Farquhar 15/11/10.
TROUBLE AND STRIFE 5.10d 10m
This route is based on the obvious ragged pockety crack left of the arch. Follow Death by Bongo Bongo/ Bonsai Pipeline through the arch and along the traverse until beneath the raggedy crack. From the low pockety shelf on the traverse, climb direct with long reaches and then right to the base of theragged pockety crack. Finish up this. Grant Farquhar. Described via Direct Start (15/9/15). Original route started along High on the Hog (5.10b 17/8/06).
TERMINAL VELOCITY 5.11a 10m
A left hand finish to Trouble and Strife. Follow High on the Hog to the base of the crack. Step left and climb the steep little headwall right of Mrs Pedersen on edges through the capping overhang. Timothy Claude, Grant Farquhar and Leeroy Beeby 9/9/15. Can also be started as for Mrs Pedersen before stepping right to the headwall (17/9/15).
MRS PEDERSEN 5.11c 11m
This route climbs the wall to the right of the arête of Night Dive. Follow Death by Bongo Bongo/ Bonsai Pipeline to the no-hands rest in the first cave. Undercut the lip of the cave and make tricky moves into friable territory. Continue past amazing pockets to the top out. Grant Farquhar 24 June 2006. Second ascent Fabian Gysi 2008. Can also be started via High on the Hog (Timothy Claude 8 Sep 2015).
BLUE MEN OF THE MINCH 5.11c 11m
The right hand exit from the large circular pocket of Atlantic Birdman. Hit the pocket with your left hand before heading up rightwards to the finish of Mrs Pederson. Grant Farquhar 9 July 2008.
ROCCOCO 5.12c 11m
FIFTY SHADES OF PINK 5.12c 11m
Takes the appealing coral pink wall right of the arete of Night Dive. Follow Blue Men of the Minch to the large circular pocket and match the flat hand rail up and right. Go puce in the face taking the amaranth sloper up and left. Tickle the pink shallow three finger pocket with your right hand. Make a big move up and left to a rosa crimp. The crux mauve involves using the crimp to gain more sloping crimps up and right. A sneaky shocking pink gaston may assist. Big magenta to the top. Exit up and right. Dave Pickford (on-sight flash) 31/3/15. Second ascent Grant Farquhar 1 Oct 2015. Third Ascent Timothy Claude 19 Apr 2016.
ATLANTIC BIRDMAN 5.11d 11m
NIGHT DIVE 5.11c 11m
GINGER STEPCHILD 5.11c 11m
The left hand finish to Night Dive. Good but nevertheless beaten by the parent route. Follow Night Dive to the slot beneath the arête. Climb initially as per Night Dive and then follow the shallow groove in the left side of the arête all the way to the top. It is possible to climb numerous variations between Night Dive and Ginger Stepchild. Grant Farquhar 5 July 2006.
TORTURA DEL AGUA 5.11d 11m
NARCOSIS 5.11d 11m
The white streak in the scooped headwall left of the arête of Night Dive has a tricky crux. There is reef lurking underneath but it’s fine at mid to high tide. Follow Death by Bongo Bongo along the traverse and through the tunnel into the second cave. Work out along the left (looking out) wall of the cave to the arete. Climb through the roof and continue to gain a no-hands rest at the bonsai tree. From the good rest at the tree blast straight up the ridiculously overhanging white streak. The previously sketchy top out is easier since some trees have grown within grabbing distance. Grant Farquhar 3 July 2006 via Bonsai Pipeline. 13/7/09 via direct start (as described).
VERDIGRIS 5.11d 11m
FUNGUS ROCK 5.11d 11m
REDEMPTION SONG 5.11d 11m
THE UPSETTER 5.11d 11m
For you it will be rough
I promise you the right and the left
And there’ll be the uppercut
I am the avenger
This is the upsetter
FUNGUS POLITICS 5.11c 11m
PIDGIN POLITICS 5.11c 11m
Follow Bonsai Pipeline to the grovel onto the ledge, no-hands sit down rest amongst the pigeons. From the right hand end of the ledge head up and rightwards through some unbelievably friable territory. The previously interesting mantelshelf finish is now easier as some bonsai trees have grown within reaching distance of the top. Grant Farquhar 20 September 2006.
PIDGIN POST 5.10d 11m
Makes the most of the canvas on the left side of the crag. Mid-tide is required. Start from the sea-level ledges on the east side of the wall underneath the finish of Pidgin Politics. Traverse westwards down and right from the ledges to the middle of the square cut cave. Climb directly through the roof and continue on slopers to the ledge on Bonsai pipeline below Pidgin Politics. From the middle of the ledge climb up and leftwards on the lip to finish at a perched block. Grant Farquhar 12 October 2015.
Hogfish Bay up-routes topo. Photo Grant Farquhar.
Hogfish Bay traverses topo. Photo Grant Farquhar.
Climb De Rock 