Marloes Sands Beach
NEED TO KNOW
Type of beach
Dogs
Dogs are welcome on the beach all year round, but must be kept under effective control.
Lifeguard
There is no lifeguard cover on this beach.
Beach cleaning
Parking
Nearest town
Postcode
OS grid reference
What3words
ABOUT
Situated on a peninsula on the most south-westerly point of the Pembrokeshire coast, Marloes Sands is an exposed beach that bears the full force of the Atlantic Ocean.
Managed by the National Trust, the beach is about a mile long and on a clear day it’s possible to get great views of Skokholm and Gateholm Islands out to sea. At high tide the beach is almost completely covered with just a pebble bank remaining, while at low tide rocky outcrops and rock pools filled with an abundance of marine life are found dotted across the clean sand.
The towering cliffs that run along the length of Marloes Sands are made up of layered red sandstone and grey shale with many interesting rock formations and evidence of prehistoric ripples. One prominent feature is the Three Chimneys, three vertical lines of hard silurian sandstone and mudstone. There used to be four chimneys, but one crumbled in a severe storm in 1954. Although fossils aren’t abundant, corals, brachiopods and bivalves can sometimes be discovered at the base of the cliffs.
STAR SPECIES
The dramatic landscape of the beach was used to full effect in the 2012 fantasy film, Snow White and the Huntsman starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and Bob Hoskins in his final performance. It was also used as a location in the 1968 historical drama, The Lion in Winter, which starred Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, and Anthony Hopkins.
A visit to Marloes Sands is ideal for a family or group of friends who will find plenty of space to set up a picnic, play some beach games, build sandcastles, or simply relax with a book. And as a dog-friendly beach all year round, you’re more than welcome to bring your four-legged friends, although please make sure you clean up and take any mess home with you as there are no dog bins on the beach.
On calm days, the water is safe for swimming and bathing, and children will enjoy a paddle, while winter is a good time to visit for surfing. The waves have good, solid swells which are best surfed at mid-tide, but novices should be aware of rip currents, rocks, and the fast-rising tide.
Paddleboarding and bodyboarding are also popular, while divers and snorkellers will enjoy exploring the marine life such as sea slugs, pink sea fan sponge crabs, and crawfish, reefs, wrecks, and underwater caves of the surrounding sea.
Marloes Sands is a haven for bird and wildlife watchers. Grey seals can often be spotted playing offshore and in the summer about 150 fluffy, white pups are born on the beach. The best place to observe them, as well as porpoises and if you’re lucky dolphins, is from the Deer Park on the headland of the peninsular. Despite its name, the park has never been home to deer, and although a walled enclosure for deer was built in the 18th century, they were never introduced. Today the park is grazed by Welsh mountain ponies to prevent the spread of invasive plants such as gorse and bracken. There are also the remains of an Iron Age fort in the park. Dating back more than 2,000 years it is the largest promontory fort in South Wales.
For bird watchers, Marloes Sands is a fantastic place to spot seabirds along the coast, as well as choughs, ravens, and Dartford warblers. Take a boat to Skomer Island where tens of thousands of birds such as Manx shearwaters, shags, razorbills, guillemots, and puffins reside, and birds of prey including short-eared owls, kestrels, and peregrine falcons can be seen in the skies overhead. The island is also home to the Skomer vole, a subspecies of the bank vole, which is endemic to the island.
Across the island the remains of prehistoric settlements, roundhouses, cairns, mounds, and walls can be found. A prominent Bronze Age standing monolith, known as the Harold Stone, may have been used as to mark a burial.
To the west of Skomer and much less accessible is Grassholm island, owned by the RSPB and where a huge gannet colony breeds. Although it’s not possible to land on the island, boat operators organise trips that sail close enough to experience the sights and sounds of the birds.
A short walk from the beach is Marloes Mere, an acidic wetland that attracts large numbers of wintering wildfowl. Keep your eyes peeled for wigeons, shovelers, pintails, teals, snipe, little grebes, and mallards. Rare plants too, grow alongside the reservoirs and pools. Look out for the rare three-lobed crowfoot and the tubular water-dropwort.
There are no facilities on the beach itself but a short walk along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path will take you to Runwayskins, a small café and kiosk serving breakfast rolls, home-cooked lunches, paninis, ice cream, coffee, and cake made from locally sourced ingredients. Public toilets can be found near the café and the National Trust car park nearby offers free parking to members and parking for a fee for members.
Access to the Marloe Sands is along a footpath from the car park and across a small wooden bridge which crosses a stream onto the beach.
AMENITIES
