Camping in west Wales

Coast path camping

The Pembrokeshire Coast Path runs from Amroth to St Dogmaels, and the practical way to walk sections of it is to book pitches a day's walk apart. Farm fields within a mile of the path are common; message hosts about late arrival if you're walking in rather than driving.

North Pembrokeshire — Strumble Head, Pwll Deri, Newport — is the wildest stretch and the quietest in high summer. The south coast around Tenby and Saundersfoot is busier and better served for families.

Ceredigion and the bay

Cardigan Bay holds the UK's largest resident bottlenose dolphin population, most reliably seen from the headlands at New Quay and Mwnt between April and September. Inland, the Teifi valley and the Cambrian foothills have farm pitches at a fraction of coastal prices, twenty minutes from the same beaches.

Prices follow the coastline closely. A field with a sea view in Pembrokeshire in August can cost twice an inland pitch twenty minutes away, and the Teifi valley, the Preseli foothills and Carmarthenshire farmland all give you the same beaches for a lot less — at the cost of a short drive each morning and a car park that may already be full by ten.

Wind, and where to pitch

Exposure, not rain, is what catches people out on this coast. A clifftop field with a sea view is glorious at six in the evening and hard work at two in the morning. Ask hosts whether there is a hedge-sheltered corner, take pegs rated for sandy or thin soil, and pitch the tail of the tent into the prevailing south-westerly.

Walking a coast path section without a car

The practical way to walk Pembrokeshire is to book pitches roughly 8–14 miles apart and use the Coastal Bus services — the Poppit Rocket, Strumble Shuttle, Puffin Shuttle and Celtic Coaster — to return to your car or shortcut a hard day. They run frequently in summer, sparsely in winter, and take rucksacks.

Tell hosts you are walking in. It changes what they need to know: no vehicle, a later arrival, and often a need for drinking water and somewhere to charge a headtorch. Many west Wales hosts will hold a resupply parcel or point you at the nearest village shop, which on this coast can be several miles inland.

Sea, tides and swimming safely

West-facing Welsh beaches take Atlantic swell, and the same conditions that make Freshwater West and Whitesands good surfing spots make them dangerous for casual swimmers. Rip currents are the main hazard; swim between the flags on lifeguarded beaches in season, and pick a sheltered cove or an estuary on big-swell days.

Tides here have some of the largest ranges in Britain, and coves that connect at low water become cut-off traps three hours later. Check a tide table before any beach-to-beach walk, and treat sea caves and tidal causeways as one-way risks rather than adventures.

Seabirds, seals and the islands offshore

The islands off this coast are the reason many people come. Skomer holds one of the world's largest Manx shearwater colonies and puffins from April to late July, Ramsey and Skokholm add grey seals and choughs, and Grassholm carries a gannetry of tens of thousands of pairs. Boats run from Martin's Haven and St Justinian in season, weather permitting, and Skomer landings are booked in advance and sell out early.

You do not need a boat to see the best of it. Grey seal pups are born on Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion beaches from late August into November and are easily watched — from the clifftop, at a distance, with dogs firmly on leads. Peregrines, choughs and fulmars nest along the same cliffs, and the coast path passes above most of it.