Caerfai Bay

Caerfai is the beach for St Davids itself — close enough to walk from the cathedral in half an hour or so, and the reason a string of campsites and holiday places sit along the lane above it. The sand sits at the bottom of a steep, stepped path down through the cliff, which is the main thing to know: it's not a beach you get a pushchair or a cool box onto easily, and the climb back up in the afternoon is felt by everyone.

The cliffs here are the purple sandstone that was quarried locally and used in St Davids Cathedral, and on a bright day the rock genuinely reads violet against the water. At low tide there's a good stretch of sand and rockpools at the edges; at high tide the beach shrinks a lot, so time it. It faces roughly south, which means it holds afternoon sun and is sheltered from the prevailing north-westerlies that make Whitesands cold on an otherwise nice day.

Swimming is unguarded but on a calm day it's one of the more benign bays on this coast, and it's popular with local swimmers year-round. There's a car park at the top of the lane with toilets in season. The Coast Path runs both ways from here: west towards St Non's chapel and holy well and on around to Porth Clais, east towards Caerbwdi. The St Non's circuit is one of the best short walks in Pembrokeshire and starts at your feet.