Pembrokeshire beach guides
Over fifty beaches ring this county. These guides tell you what the brochures don’t: where dogs are welcome in August, which car parks fill by ten, where not to swim, and which cottages put the sand within walking distance.
Which beaches allow dogs in which month → — the 1 May – 30 September window, set out month by month.
Tick them off as you go → — every beach, Coast Path stage, castle and island in one list.
Beaches by what you need
Each of these lists is worked out from our own data — dog rules, lifeguard cover and measured distances to the nearest car park, toilet and pub — rather than maintained by hand.
Every beach we cover
Dogs all yearBarafundle Bay
The golden cove with no road — half a mile's clifftop walk from Stackpole Quay, and regularly voted among Britain's best beaches.
Dogs all yearBroad Haven
St Brides Bay's most useful family beach: wide flat sand, lifeguards in season, and everything you need within a minute of your towel.
Dogs all yearCwm-yr-Eglwys
A tiny sheltered cove with the ruined bell tower of a storm-wrecked church standing on the beach — the most photographed spot on this coast.
Dogs all yearFreshwater West
Wales's premier surf beach: huge Atlantic sands, dunes, film fame — and genuinely dangerous swimming. Walk it, surf it, respect it.
Dogs all yearMarloes Sands
A vast, wild strand of folded rock and clean sand — many regulars' pick for the most beautiful beach in Wales.
Dogs all yearSkrinkle Haven
Two limestone coves split by the Church Doors arch, reached by a long steel staircase — spectacular, awkward and tide-dependent.
Dogs all yearTraeth Llyfn
A big sandy cove between Abereiddi and Porthgain, reached by a steel staircase bolted to the cliff — and cut off at high tide.
Dogs all yearWest Angle Bay
Sand, outstanding rockpools and a café at the mouth of the Milford Haven waterway — the best low-tide beach for children in the county.
Whitesands Bay (Porth Mawr)
St Davids' big Blue Flag surf beach beneath Carn Llidi — sand, swell and sunsets at the end of Wales.
Dogs all yearAber Draw, Trefin
The rocky cove below Trefin, with the ruined mill on the shore — a five-minute walk from the village and no sand to speak of.
Dogs all yearAberbach
Abermawr's little sister — a shingle-banked cove one headland north, shared mostly with oystercatchers.
Dogs all yearAbercastle
A sheltered working-harbour cove between Trefin and Mathry — kayaks, crab lines and a 5,000-year-old tomb up the hill.
Dogs all yearAbereiddi & the Blue Lagoon
Black sand, a flooded slate quarry of improbable blue-green, and coasteering's most famous jump-off.
Dogs all yearAberfforest
A wooded, stream-fed cove between Newport and Cwm-yr-Eglwys that most visitors walk straight past.
Dogs all yearAbermawr
A storm-built pebble bank with woodland and marsh behind, and firm sand appearing only at low tide — quiet, moody and rarely busy.
Dogs all yearAmroth Beach
A long low-tide beach at the Coast Path's start, with a 7,000-year-old drowned forest under the sand and a year-round dog end.
Dogs all yearBroad Haven South
White sand, Church Rock offshore and the lily ponds behind — Bosherston's beautiful back door to the sea.
Dogs all yearCaerbwdi Bay
A small, stony, Coast-Path-only cove east of Caerfai — quiet, geological, and no use at all for sunbathing.
Dogs all yearCaerfai Bay
St Davids' walk-to beach: purple-tinged sandstone cliffs, a steep flight of steps and clean sand at low water.
Dogs all yearCastlebeach Bay
A small wooded cove with a restored lime kiln, five minutes' walk from Dale towards St Ann's Head.
Dogs all yearCeibwr Bay
Not a sandy beach at all — a rocky inlet below Moylegrove with folded cliffs, seals, and the Witches' Cauldron a walk away.
Dogs all yearChurch Doors Cove
The gothic rock arch next to Skrinkle Haven — a tiny cove framed by one of the most photographed formations in the county.
Coppet Hall
Saundersfoot's quieter neighbour through the first tunnel — parking, a serious café, and the same lovely sand.
Dogs all yearDale Beach
The sailing village's sheltered shingle-and-sand beach on the Milford Haven waterway — flat water, boats and a pub on the front.
Dogs all yearDruidston Haven
A long, wild, cliff-backed strand between Broad Haven and Nolton — big sand at low water, almost no facilities, and very little parking.
Dogs all yearFreshwater East
A sheltered, dune-backed crescent facing south — easy parking, safe paddling and far fewer people than Tenby.
Dogs all yearGelliswick Bay
Milford Haven's own sheltered bay — shingle and sand on the waterway, home to the sailing club and a genuinely local beach.
Dogs all yearGlen Beach, Saundersfoot
Saundersfoot's quieter southern sands, past the harbour — same bay, fraction of the crowd.
Dogs all yearGoodwick Sands
A sheltered town beach in Fishguard Bay beside the ferry harbour — handy, calm, and a good dolphin-watching spot.
Dogs all yearLindsway Bay
A cliff-backed sandy bay near St Ishmaels that empties with the tide and is never busy even when it exists.
Dogs all yearLittle Haven
A small tidal cove wrapped in a steep village of pubs and cottages — lovely at low water, gone completely at high tide.
Dogs all yearLydstep Haven
A wide sheltered south-facing bay between Tenby and Manorbier, sitting inside a private holiday park — check access before you go.
Dogs all yearManorbier Bay
Red-tinged sand, a proper castle backdrop and a dependable beach break — the south coast's most characterful bay.
Dogs all yearMartin's Haven
The slipway for the Skomer boats rather than a beach — shingle, seals, and the gateway to Britain's first marine nature reserve.
Dogs all yearMill Bay
The small shingle cove near St Ann's Head where Henry Tudor landed in 1485 on his way to Bosworth — history, not sunbathing.
Dogs all yearMonk Haven
A pebble cove at the end of a wooded valley, guarded by a Victorian wall — one of the Haven's oldest landing places.
Dogs all yearMonkstone Beach
A secluded sandy beach under Monkstone Point between Tenby and Saundersfoot — earned by a steep walk down through woods.
Dogs all yearMusselwick Sands
Marloes' north-facing beach: a good stretch of sand at low water, a steep path down, and a real risk of being cut off.
Dogs all yearNewgale Sands
Two miles of open sand and learner-friendly surf behind a great pebble bank — St Brides Bay's big beach.
Dogs all yearNewport Parrog
Newport's town-side shore — old shipping quays, estuary sand at low tide, and the best sunset bench in town.
Dogs all yearNewport Sands (Traeth Mawr)
The north's golden mile across the Nevern estuary — big sky, big sand, dogs welcome on the main sweep all year.
Dogs all yearNolton Haven
A small, easy cove with parking right by the sand — the low-effort option on this stretch of St Brides Bay.
Dogs all yearPenally Beach
Tenby South Beach's quiet continuation — the same mile of golden sand, minus the deckchairs.
Dogs all yearPoppit Sands
The Coast Path's northern terminus: wide Teifi-estuary sands with dunes, lifeguards and dolphin chances offshore.
Dogs all yearPorthclais Harbour
St Davids' medieval harbour inlet — lime kilns, kayaks and a sliver of low-tide sand in a rocky creek.
Dogs all yearPorthmelgan
The quiet cove ten minutes north of Whitesands — sand at low tide, no facilities, and currents that deserve respect.
Dogs all yearPorthmynawyd (Pointz Castle)
The hidden cove between Solva and Newgale — a fifteen-minute field walk keeps it nearly private.
Dogs all yearPorthselau
The small sandy cove at Whitesands' southern end — campsite above, Ramsey sunsets ahead.
Dogs all yearPresipe Bay
Red sandstone drama east of Manorbier — a low-tide beach under toothed cliffs, earned by steps.
Priory Bay, Caldey Island
The monks' white-sand landing beach — reached by boat from Tenby, and unlike anywhere else in the county.
Dogs all yearPwllgwaelod
A small sheltered cove on the west side of Dinas Island, with parking, a pub and the easiest good walk in north Pembrokeshire.
Dogs all yearSandy Haven
A quiet estuary beach on the north shore of the waterway, with stepping stones across the pill that only work at low tide.
Saundersfoot Beach
Huge, safe, gently-shelving village sand — one of Wales's classic family beaches, with the harbour alongside.
Dogs all yearSolva Harbour Beach
The drying harbour at the head of Solva's ria — boats on the mud, crabbing off the wall, sand at low water.
Dogs all yearSt Brides Haven
A sheltered snorkelling cove with a Norman church at its back — the quiet start of the Marloes peninsula.
Dogs all yearStackpole Quay
Reputedly Britain's smallest harbour, with a National Trust car park, café and toilets — and the start of the walk to Barafundle.
Dogs all yearSwanlake Bay
A sandy bay between Freshwater East and Manorbier with no road access at all — usually empty, and entirely tide-dependent.
Tenby Castle Beach
The small beach between Castle Hill and St Catherine's Island — rockpools, the lifeboat station, and a low-tide walk to the fort.
Dogs all yearTenby Harbour Beach
The postcard itself — small sheltered sands inside Tenby's pastel harbour, best at high tide.
Tenby North Beach
The postcard one: harbour, Goscar Rock and sheltered sand beneath the pastel town.
Dogs all yearTenby South Beach
A mile and a half of dune-backed sand towards Giltar Point, with Caldey Island floating offshore — Tenby's family workhorse.
Dogs all yearWatwick Bay
The Dale peninsula's white-sand surprise — sheltered, walk-in only, and startlingly beautiful at low tide.
Dogs all yearWestdale Bay
Fifteen minutes' walk across the peninsula from Dale and a completely different sea — open Atlantic sand, and dangerous swimming.
Dogs all yearWiseman's Bridge
The quiet middle beach on the Amroth–Saundersfoot tramway walk: pebbles at the top, wide firm sand below, pub on the sea front.