An £80,000 Land Rover became trapped by the tide in an exclusive coastal resort.
The Discovery 4×4 was fully submerged by about 10am yesterday at Abersoch in North Wales, a resort dubbed ‘Cheshire-on-Sea’ for its wealthy visitors.
A photograph of the silver 2018 diesel model showed it sitting in the water off the town’s Main Beach as the clear water crept up its side.
And a video posted on social media showed a paddleboarder floating over the car and peering through its sunroof. The vehicle has since been recovered.
The driver is thought to have got into trouble while retrieving a boat trailer or jet ski with the car at the popular resort on the Llŷn Peninsula.
A bright red tow rope was attached to the back of the car and floated in the water. The vehicle had been driven 43,000 miles according to its latest MOT last July.
One business owner who works near the beach confirmed to the Daily Mail today that the SUV had been rescued following the incident.
Main Beach is lined with sought-after huts – with one listed for sale at £250,000 in 2023, more than the average Welsh house price in March that year.
A silver Land Rover Discovery in the water off Main Beach in Abersoch, North Wales, yesterday
A paddleboarder on the beach floats over the submerged vehicle before it was rescued today
As the tide came in at Main Beach in Abersoch, the Land Rover was left completely underwater
Social media users said the area, which has long attracted tourists and second-home owners lured to the region by its beautiful coastline, will likely see more cases of submerged cars.
One social media user wrote: ‘Not the first and it won’t be the last.’
Another said the incident marked the start of ‘silly season’, when locals see more and more mishaps as tourists and second-home owners, inexperienced in the ways of the coast, flood into the region.
They added: ‘When will the bloody tourists learn?’
Others were more sympathetic, with one stating that the Discovery ‘probably gave [the driver] a sense of security that it can go anywhere – we all know it can’t. We have to still feel a little sorry for his loss.’
Another said: ‘Very sad to see that something went wrong. See many cars go into the sea to retrieve boat trailers, and you know that car will be rotten very soon afterwards.
‘You also see people who use their nous and use long ropes to pull out the trailer before hitching and not getting wet. But you can never account for sand shift or sink – and it’s a risk you take. There’s a reason why old tractors are used.’
Beachgoers who parked on the sand at Polzeath in Cornwall last August found a rising tide had swamped the area – leaving their vehicles partially submerged in the sea.
Cars got carried into the sea at Burnham Overy Staithe in Norfolk in May last year after at least six vehicles were left too close to the water’s edge in the picturesque area
It comes after beachgoers who parked on the sand at Polzeath in Cornwall last August found a rising tide had swamped the area – leaving their vehicles partially submerged in the sea.
Motorists were forced to wade into the water to claim their cars, and locals watched on as visitors who had left their cars parked along the shore came back to carnage.
And in May last year, cars got carried into the sea at a Norfolk beauty spot after a spate of bad weather.
At least six vehicles were left too close to the water’s edge at picturesque Burnham Overy Staithe, causing them to be submerged by the rapidly rising tide.
A combination of the monthly spring tide, which comes around the time of the new moon, and high wind gusts meant water levels quickly began to lap up around the cars.
While most visitors to the site got down to their vehicles in time to rescue them from a damp fate, two cars became stranded underwater and sailed out into the sea.
Do you know the Land Rover owner? Please email: joe.rossiter@dailymail.co.uk
