West Pembrokeshire's Beaches
Pembrokeshire has over 50 beaches, so more than enough to keep you busy during your visit. Here's beaches, coves and shores you can visit on the southern coast of the county, between St Davids and Neyland.
Pembrokeshire's Beaches: St David's to Neyland
Aberwest Beach
Aberwest is a little-known sandy cove tucked under the armpit of Dinas Fawr peninsula to the east of Solva on the northern side of St Bride’s Bay – a coast once well-known for smuggling. It is not easy to get to, accessible only from the National Park Coastal Footpath either from Solva to the west or from Penycwm or Newgale to the east. For this reason it tends to only be visited by the locals who know it well.
There is a rough farm path down from the main road before east-west traffic descends into Solva, but possibly the best route is from Solva Harbour car park and thence via The Gribbin and the coastal footpath.
Miles from Bluestone: 22
Time to drive from Bluestone: 44 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 6XA
Toilets available: No
Parking available: No
Albion Sands
Albion Sands is a small and secluded bay near Marloes Beach on the southern tip of pretty St Bride’s Bay. If you come at low tide, you can spot a head-high piece of metal standing like a statue in the golden sand. This is what’s left of a paddle steamer called Albion, a speedy boat that used to carry passengers from Cork across the Irish Sea to Bristol.
She crashed in 1837 when her captain took an ill-advised shortcut near this beach. Happily, the weather was relatively calm that day and her 50 passengers and crew, together with five horses and 180 pigs were saved. She was left to break up on the beach and has remained there, buried in the sand, for the last 176 years.
Miles from Bluestone: 22
Time to drive from Bluestone: 43 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3BH
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes - 1/2 mile away
Caerbwdi Bay Beach
Just round the headland to the east of Caerfai Bay near St Davids, is the little rocky cove of Caerbwdi Bay. The coast path passes through the valley and across the pretty mill stream on its way to Solva, and just off the path to the north is the site at Trelerw of a typical ‘clachan’ - a ruin of a small group of Celtic houses.
The famous purple Caerbwdi stone used to build St David’s Cathedral was quarried at Caerbwdi, from the cliffs flanking the narrow bay.
Miles from Bluestone: 25
Time to drive from Bluestone: 42 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 6QP
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes
Caerfai Beach
Just a short walk south-west from St Davids, Caerfai is a sheltered cove facing south across St Brides Bay, with a lovely crescent of golden sands at low tide. There’s a looming descent from the clifftop carpark but it’s well worth the effort for a nice day on the beach where the children can swim or explore the rock pools.
While exploring keep an eye out for the beautiful pink, white and blue pastel colours of the bluebell, sea campion, red campion and thrift growing on the cliffs. Banks of golden gorse, its heady coconut aroma filling the air, add to the pleasure.
These cliffs are also populated by chough, raven, gull, fulmar and peregrine falcon. On the cliff above Caerfai is a disused submarine telegraph office, a legacy of Victorian technological advances in transmitting messages across the Atlantic to America.
Miles from Bluestone: 26
Time to drive from Bluestone: 45 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 6QT
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes
Deadmans Bay
Deadmans Bay is a rocky cove on the southern tip of the Marloes peninsula which juts out into treacherous Jack Sound towards Midland Island and Skomer Island. The reason for its sinister name seems to have been lost, but there have been at least a dozen wrecks recorded on this coast over the last two centuries, so it would be no surprise if people had come to a sticky end here.
The cove is visited nowadays only by coasteering enthusiasts and active adventurers who are not daunted by a hazardous climb up and down steep cliffs. It is no place for swimming mind.
Miles from Bluestone: 23
Time to drive from Bluestone: 44 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3BJ
Toilets available: No
Parking available: No
Drinkim Bay
Drinkim is on Caldey Island – one of its exotically named bays and beaches. Sandy Bay, Sandtop Bay, Red Berry Bay, Bullum’s Bay, Paul Jones Bay and Priory Bay are all great places enjoy a place to picnic, swim, play games or simply bask in the sun. Drinkim Bay is accessible via boat, leaving Tenby and landing on Caldey Island.
As soon as the visitor steps off the boat at the jetty in Priory Bay on Caldey Island, the beautiful golden sands stretching over to the east invite a visit. The sand is so soft and deep, it is a pleasure to walk on and the temptation to build a sand castle is irresistible.
The view across Carmarthen Bay from the lighthouse and the cliffs overlooking Drinkim Bay is breathtaking, with Lundy Island and the hazy outline of the Somerset and North Devon coasts on clear days.
Miles from Bluestone: 12 (To Tenby/harbour)
Time to drive from Bluestone: 27 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA70 7UJ
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes, in Tenby
Lindsway Bay Beach
Lindsway bay is a wide, sandy beach once visited by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on their first Royal visit to Pembrokeshire in 1955. They brought with them the young Prince Charles and his sister Princess Anne. They had a picnic on Lindsway Beach - there were no paparazzi in those days so the Royal family later reported a very pleasant day on the sands.
It’s sandwiched between Watch House Point to the west and Great Castle Head to the east with Longberry Point and Rooks’ Nest Point marking the limits of the sandy beach. On Watch House Point are the remains of coastal artillery positions built at the start of World War Two in 1914, while on Great Castle Head is the site of an older fortification dating from the Iron Age.
Miles from Bluestone: 20
Time to drive from Bluestone: 38 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3DQ
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes – half a mile away
Little Haven Beach
Little Haven beach and village are found in a quaint cove into which the roads from three directions drop steeply to the water’s edge. Little Haven is a busy little boating beach with a long slipway for yachts and fishing boats and the sand, when the tide is low, is popular with small children who can safely paddle or explore the rock pools. In summer the locals go out fishing for mackerel, which come into the bay in large shoals, and some unusual visitors have been recorded in recent years, including a massive sun fish which leaped into a local man’s rowing boat.
The walk to The Point has a splendid view across St Brides Bay and the village has a couple of good pubs, shops, an art gallery, and a village hall which hosts an annual art exhibition.
Miles from Bluestone: 17
Time to drive from Bluestone: 34 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3UF
Toilets available: Yes
Parking available: Yes
Marloes Sands Beach
Marloes Sands is a wide, curved stretch of golden sand between Hooper’s Point and Gateholm Island. Although it is a bit of a walk from the nearest carparks at the nearby nature reserve Marloes Mere, Martin’s Haven and West Dale, those who make it think it’s well worth the effort. It was also one of the locations for the film The Lion in Winter starring Peter O’Toole and the acting debut for one Anthony Hopkins.
Miles from Bluestone: 21
Time to drive from Bluestone: 41 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3AT
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes – half a mile away
Martin's Haven Beach
Martin’s Haven, near Marloes, is a north-facing rocky cove where you can catch a boat to the seabird sanctuary of Skomer Island. Passengers climb the rough path along the cliffside to the landing stage for their magical adventure on an island aglow with floral colour and loud with the calls of thousands of seabirds. The best time to visit Skomer is in springtime when the entire island is carpeted in a breathtaking display of bluebells and red campion as far as the eye can see.
The two-mile boat trip round the northern end of Jack Sound, past Midland Island and The Neck into North Haven, is in itself an enchanting experience and the boat is soon cruising past rafts of puffin, guillemot and razorbill, with more of these birds and others flying overhead. There is also a good chance of spotting a porpoise, seals and the occasional basking shark en-route.
Miles from Bluestone: 23
Time to drive from Bluestone: 44 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3BJ
Toilets available: Yes
Parking available: Yes
Monk Haven Beach
A stone arch over the path leading down to the shingly beach of Monk Haven gives the place an air of mystery. The beach looks south towards the harbour entrance, with Dale Fort on the right and the tip of the Angle peninsula and Thorn Island to the left. Not many visit Monk Haven today, it is a tranquil retreat rather than a swimming beach.
Artists and photographers, sea anglers and bird watchers still find it appealing and the walk down through the woods, still colourful in spring with the rhododendrons planted by the Warren-Davis family, is a lovely experience.
Miles from Bluestone: 21
Time to drive from Bluestone: 40 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3TG
Toilets available: No
Parking available: No
Musselwick Sands Beach
Musselwick Sands is a sandy strip near the village of Marloes. Facing north into St Bride’s Bay find it between Wooltack Point and Nab Head. It is only really accessible at low tide as the beach is narrow and those who descend into it can very easily be cut off by the tide. There are musselbeds along the rocky end of the beach and offshore, and in winter it is the haunt of rafts of scoter duck diving to feed on the shellfish beneath the surface.
There is no access by road, the nearest parking being in the village of Marloes half a mile to the south-west, but for the more active it is worth a visit for its wildness, with good swimming in mild weather. If parking in Marloes, the best route down to the beach is via the Martins Haven road for a couple of hundred yards to just short of Marloes Beacon where a path turns off to the right.
Miles from Bluestone: 21
Time to drive from Bluestone: 40 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3QX
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes - 1/2 mile away
Nolton Haven Beach
Nolton Haven is a small, sheltered cove with a nice sandy beach, right beside the coast road between Broad Haven and Newgale. The village of Nolton has a large Riding School and the horses can often be spotted on the beach. From the top of the beach, only yards from the road, you’ll notice the two headlands look like faces looking across the beach at each other.
Miles from Bluestone: 17
Time to drive from Bluestone: 31 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3NH
Toilets available: Yes
Parking available: Yes
Porthclais Beach
Porthclais is a sheltered harbour on the south-western tip of the St Davids Peninsula where the River Alun enters the sea. The coast path leading to beach is rich with wildlife - fulmars glide the cliffs around the beach, ravens show off their aerobatic skills in the thermals and choughs peck for insects by the coast path.
Miles from Bluestone: 26
Time to drive from Bluestone: 47 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 6RR
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes
Porthlysgi Bay
Beach Porthlysgi Bay, facing south-west on the southern tip of the St Davids peninsula, is a deep inlet with a rocky beach looking out towards the craggy islet of Carreg yr Esgob (Bishop Rock). There are seven main islets and a dozen or more rocks in the group which are known as The Bishops and Clerks, the North Bishop lying four-and-a-half miles due west of St Davids Head and the South Bishop five-and-a half miles further south and about three miles off Ramsey Island.
The beach is named after a Celtic warrior called Lysgi of the time of St David who sailed into land on the beach to vanquish the local ruler Boia.
Miles from Bluestone: 27
Time to drive from Bluestone: 50 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 6RS
Toilets available: No
Parking available: No
Sandy Haven Beach
Sandy Haven is a wide creek entering Milford Haven Waterway on the north shore, midway between Dale and Milford Haven town. It was a favourite spot of the famous artist Graham Sutherland. He loved its mystic atmosphere and he sketched and painted here many times. At low tide it can be crossed by the Triple Stone stepping stones on the west side to the long stretch of golden sand on the eastern shore. Further upstream is a small footbridge where the stream is narrower.
There are two access routes to Sandy Haven, one from the Milford Haven to Dale road crossing the estuary by Sandy Haven chapel and turning left towards the coast a short distance down to the western side, the other by turning left through Herbrandston and right just past Herbrandston Hall to the eastern shore.
Miles from Bluestone: 19
Time to drive from Bluestone: 38 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA73 3ST
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes
Saundersfoot Beach
Popular Saundersfoot has plenty of cafes, restaurants and shops and a beautiful wide sandy beach. It’s family friendly with lots of paddling space and the seaside resort is surrounded by countryside with green, wooded and undulating walks. The village has an increasing reputation as a gourmet resort, thanks to the high quality restaurants and cafes and the local Pembrokeshire produce. There are events and activities throughout the year.
Miles from Bluestone: 10
Time to drive from Bluestone: 22 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA69 9HE
Toilets available: Yes
Parking available: Yes
Sleeping Bay Beach
Sleeping Bay is a rocky beach on the western side of Sandy Haven on the northern shore of Milford Haven Waterway. It is only accessible at low tide by wading across Sandy Haven Pill round Sleeping Bay Point. It’s not really one for families as it is mainly red sandstone rocks and seaweed-strewn sand with an ever-present danger of being cut off by the tide. It is sheltered though and good for sunbathing.
Miles from Bluestone: 19
Time to drive from Bluestone: 38 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA73 3ST
Toilets available: No
Parking available: No
Solva Beach
The boomerang-shaped tidal creek at Solva, with its south-facing entrance guarded by high headlands, is arguably one of the safest (and prettiest) harbours on the Pembrokeshire coast. At high tide, the beach is just a narrow strip and at low tide it is completely dry leaving just fish, shrimp and crabs to catch. If you head down the beach towards the mouth of the inlet there’s a large stretch of sand with rock pools and caves to explore.
The swimming here is very shallow and very good for small children. At high tide, jumping off the harbour wall provides hours of fun. Several paths lead up to The Gribbin with superb views. Solva is steeped in maritime history and was once one of the busiest trading ports in Pembrokeshire. Today Solva is a bustling village with a wide selection of cafes, restaurants and pubs. There are art galleries, deli and gift shops. One mile upriver is Solva Woollen Mill producing some distinctive quality fabrics. There’s also a cafe.
Miles from Bluestone: 22
Time to drive from Bluestone: 37 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 6UU
Toilets available: Yes
Parking available: Yes
St Brides Haven Beach
St Brides Haven is a pretty little rocky cove flanked on its northern side by a low building known as Cliff Cottages, a place so close to the sea that it seems in permanent danger of being swept away by the waves. The narrow road from the west peters out by the beach and there is just about enough space for a few cars by the church gate, a few yards from the shore. The beach is nice for a swim and for children to paddle and explore the rock pools, but it is small and is more a launching place for small boats.
Miles from Bluestone: 20
Time to drive from Bluestone: 38 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3AN
Toilets available: Yes
Parking available: Yes
Warey Haven Beach
Warey Haven is a place that few people are familiar with. It’s a shallow crescent-shaped bay with a virtually inaccessible beach of rock and shingle on the north-west facing stretch of coast between St Brides and Mill Haven near Talbenny. Walkers can see it from the coast path as they trek south-west towards Nab Head.
Miles from Bluestone: 20
Time to drive from Bluestone: 38 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3AN
Toilets available: No
Parking available: No
Watwick Bay Beach
Watwick Bay is a narrow notch in the coast of St Annes Head. Its steeply sloping beach of sand and shingle is a sheltered sun trap in summer but a wild place in winter. The waters off Watwich Bay are locally famed for the many shipwrecks they hold thanks to stormy seas.
Miles from Bluestone: 23
Time to drive from Bluestone: 44 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3RP
Toilets available: No
Parking available: No
West Angle Bay Beach
West Angle Bay is a small but pleasant beach, safe for bathing with its golden sands protected by rocky outcrops on each side of the entrance. It is a short, level walk from the village, where there is a spacious car park close to the beach with a cafe and toilets.
This part of the coast, like Dale on the other side of the Haven, has one of the best sunshine records in the UK.
Miles from Bluestone: 23
Time to drive from Bluestone: 44 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA71 5BE
Toilets available: No
Parking available: Yes
West Dale Beach
Just a short walk from Dale village, West Dale beach is an attractive sheltered bay with golden sands and rockpools looking out to Skokholm Island. The nearby village means that all the necessary facilities are not far away, a couple of shops, the Dale Sailing Company boatyard, public toilets, The Griffin Inn and a recently renovated and updated village hall where all kinds of entertainment and exhibitions of local history and art are regularly arranged for locals and visitors alike.
Miles from Bluestone: 23
Time to drive from Bluestone: 44 minutes
Nearest postcode: SA62 3RL
Toilets available: Yes - in village
Parking available: Yes – half a mile away