Dale Beach

Situated on the northern coastline of the Milford Haven Waterway, Dale Beach is a mostly shingle beach with some sandy areas. One of the more popular beaches in Pembrokeshire, Dale Beach is a utopia of activity with a hive of watersports, boat trips and shore-based pastimes available all year round.

Nestled on an inner curve of this stretch of the Cleddau estuary, the beach at Dale is near to some of West Pembrokeshire’s most stunning locations nearby including Marloes Sands and Skomer Island, famous for being home to the characterful seabirds, puffins.

This wide sheltered beach is backed by a quaint seaside village jam-packed with amenities, and the micro-climate ensures warm sunny temperatures like no other.

Activities

It’s safe to say you would be hard-pressed to find another beach nearby which is as suitable for such a diverse range of activities as Dale Beach. There really is something to suit everyone whether you’re an adrenaline junkie, a water-baby, a sun-worshipper or a wild adventurer.

As you drive around the corner into Dale, one of the things you’re likely to spot first is the bustle of activity in the water. There’s a great boating community based here so expect to find sailing boats of all shapes and sizes speckled throughout the waters. During the summer, the local Yacht Club host annual regattas where the beach is overcome with a family-friendly fair environment as well as weekly yacht races on Thursdays and Sundays plus the regular Sunday Series. You can even take courses at this beach to become a qualified skipper.

Water-sports activities are in abundance here so you’ll find a shoreline swarming with surfers and paddleboarders, wetsuit-donned humans racing off to go scrambling, leaping and swimming whilst coasteering and bodyboarders paddling through the waves. You’ll find canoes and kayakers manoeuvring their way through the waves and the power kites of kitesurfers dotted along the skyline. If it’s a water-based activity, chances are you’ll find someone at Dale Beach taking part.

If you ask anyone what a popular beachside activity to do here with children is, they’ll send you in the direction of Dale pontoon. Take along a crabbing kit, a bucket, and some bait (locals suggest bacon) and the little ones will have endless fun catching Welsh crabs from the pontoon.

Keen fishermen will be pleased with their catch of the day from here no doubt. Those who have cast their rods at Dale Beach have been known to find mackerel, dogfish, and flounders or if try long casting if you want any chance of catching a ray. You may of course spot some of the local fishermen heading out in their boats in search of today’s fresh fish for the specials board in the pub.

Despite being mostly shingle until the tide goes out to reveal more sandy spaces, sunbathers come out in their droves to make the most of this west Pembrokeshire micro-climate, taking advantage of the warmer weather and cloudless skies. The sheltered nature of this bay also makes it a great place for bathing.

The Milford Haven Waterway is a part of the Cleddau estuary, which is known for being a haven for birdlife. Frequent visitors to this area include wildfowl and waders, as well as the puffins and manx shearwaters who annually make their nesting homes at Skomer Island nearby.

If you enjoy delving into Pembrokeshire history, you might wish to call into The Dale Heritage Centre. Free to enter, this centre is open Thursdays to Sunday and houses archives, exhibitions and local history information for the surrounding area including Dale, Marloes, St Ishmaels and St Brides.

Facilities

On the land overlooking Dale Beach is where you will find several convenient amenities. There’s West Wales Watersports where you can book watersports lessons, hire watersports equipment including wetsuits and surfboards, and shop for surfing apparel, gifts, boards and more. They are even an RYA Accredited centre for sailing tuition. They also house a local information centre if you have any questions about the local area. This company is a sister company to Dale Sailing who offer the boat trips from Martin’s Haven Beach out to the offshore islands of Skomer, Skoholm and Grassholm.

A couple of doors down from West Wales Watersports is Dale Yacht Club. Founded here in 1958, this yacht club is at the heart of much of the events which take place such as the aforementioned regattas. A handy feature from this club is the webcam looking over the bay, allowing you to see conditions and to see whether the slipway is accessible – sometimes they close the floodgates as a precaution in bad weather.

You will also find some eateries along this stretch looking over Dale Beach. The Griffin Inn is the sole (pun intended) seaside pub in the village and comes highly recommended if you’re partial to dining on freshly prepared quality seafood. Alternatively, you can pay a visit to the Boathouse Café and Shop for a spot of lunch with the little ones.

A Pay and Display car park is within a short walk of the water with approximately 100 spaces, plus disabled parking along the beachfront. There is also a post office, public toilets and a bus stop here.

Access

From the road, you can walk along the grassy bank which backs Dale Beach, stopping off to soak in the wonderful views at one of the benches along the seafront. Depending on where you aim for, you can walk down concrete steps onto the shore (near the car park), take a little hop down from the grassy area or head for the watersports centre where you will find the main slipway opposite, alongside the Dale pontoon.

At high tide, you’ll find a mainly pebbly shingle beach but as the water goes out, you can walk out to find sandy areas.

Is Dale Beach Dog Friendly?

Dale Beach is one of the handful of beaches in Pembrokeshire which imposes a partial dog ban during the summer months. Between 1st May and 30th September, dogs are not permitted on a section of the beach at the northern end of the beach, the opposite end to the pontoon and slipway.

Award-Winning

Dale Beach is one of Pembrokeshire’s award-winning beaches, regularly sporting the iconic Blue Flag signifying brilliant conditions and excellent facilities. It has also received the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) Award, recommending visits because of its first-rate water quality.

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