Dale Village to Sandy Haven

Myself, my partner and our dog commenced our section of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path from Dale Village and used the sea front car park.

Dale is a lovely, small village and proved to be a wonderful start to our walk, especially as the weather was glorious. We timed it perfectly as the tide was out which enabled us to cross the shallow water onto Musselwick Beach, which our water-obsessed dog absolutely loved. 

We then proceeded on our route towards our next checkpoint of Monk Haven, a place that we had never ventured to before. The steady incline from Musselwick to Monk Haven provided terrific views back to the village of Dale. We were then welcomed into Monk Haven by the stone walls which you walk through, leading to the small but perfectly-formed pebbled beach. We loved it here as it was so peaceful and the noise of the sea on the pebbles was very relaxing. I have already recommended this beach to family members which also haven't visited this hidden gem. 

The path ahead went up through some woodland and brought us out at an old watchtower which was a wonderful vantage point of the path already walked and the path that lay ahead. With the weather we were blessed with, you could see out to sea for miles which made me realise just how easy it is to forget how lucky we are to live in this beautiful part of the world. 

As the walk continued, we passed many lovely coves including Watch House Bay and Wenall Bay, which then lead to a beautiful beach called Lindsway Bay. There was a man on the beach who was sand raking a whale's tail, it was fascinating to watch and something we didn't expect to see during our walk. Once we caught our breath after walking back up the steep steps that take you off the beach and back onto the coastal path, we realised we were roughly halfway through our walk so stopped to take in the views with a picnic.

As we continued the walk after refuelling, we passed the Great Castle Head Lighthouse and were brought slightly inland across a field which then opened up onto Longoar Bay winding down to Butts Bay where you can either walk down to the pebbled shoreline or carry on the walk by going through a very shallow ford, which we opted to do. The path then began a steady incline bringing us out by Little Castle Head Lighthouse meaning the end was now in sight. We progressed round Sleeping Bay bringing us out into the woodland above Sandy Haven, our final destination. Our dog began to get very excited as he was surrounded by all the sticks he could have ever wished for and he was looking down at the beautiful beach where he could see other dogs playing and people horse riding. 

As our hike came to an end, we walked down the concrete slipway onto Sandy Haven Beach. It was low tide when we arrived meaning there was a massive expanse of sand that we were easily able to access via the boardwalk across the stream leading down to the estuary. When it is high tide, this is submerged so we were very lucky to have timed it right. It was a very enjoyable walk, which was, surprisingly, mainly level and offered many sandy and pebbled coves along the way for us to take in the views and for our dog to enjoy a paddle.