A few weeks ago, before Covid entered our house, Izzy and I spent a lovely evening in Dale, Pembrokeshire. We used to come here often, but like so many places, we’ve yet to return since 2020 and the recent lockdowns. Read on to find out more about visiting Dale and to see snapshots from our evening:
Visiting Dale, Pembrokeshire
Dale is an unspoilt coastal village in South West Pembrokeshire. There are disabled spaces to park along the sea front and also Dale Sea front pay and display car park (Sat Nav: SA62 3RA). It’s free to park during the winter months and after 7pm. During paying times, costs start from £1 for one hour parking. There are both coin and card only payment machines available.
During the summer season, refreshments are available from the local cafe, The Boathouse and pub, The Griffin, and there are toilets situated on the path to the left just past Celtic Sea Watersports.
Dale Beach, Pembrokeshire
After parking in the sea front car park, we crossed the road and headed straight to Dale beach- we couldn’t resist! It’s a large pebble beach with some sand. Dale is a sheltered bay perfect for watersports. Our visit was just before the summer season begins so it was eerily quiet, but usually Dale beach is popular for windsurfing, sailing and paddle boarding.
Nearby, West Dale Beach is a good choice if you want to enjoy a sunset view.
Watch a video of our evening in West Dale here:
We walked along Dale beach, looking for interesting pebbles and shells. We spotted whelk egg cases and mermaid purses.
Dale is quite a typical Pembrokeshire village with it’s sea views and green fields. The green, green grass of home…I love it!
The sea foam is beautiful
As Dale is situated along the coast from Milford Haven, they share the industrial view of Valero refinery in Pembroke.
Eating and Drinking in Dale
From the beach you can see The Griffin pub and also Coco’s Brasserie at Dale Yacht Club. Soon the sea front will be full of people enjoying a meal and drink in the sun on the infamous Dale sea wall.
Snapshots of Dale Beach, Pembrokeshire
The beach has a slipway too making it easily accessible for boats and watersports.
The Gann, Dale, Pembrokeshire
Then we walked along to The Gann, a lovely walk and birdwatching spot in Dale. You can park alongside here too. There used to be a good sized carpark here but they’ve made it smaller to discourage overnight campervans I can only assume.
You can walk a 3.8 miles circular walk around The Gann.
Or you could take the coastal path 9 miles back to Milford Haven, passing the wonderful Monk Haven along the way.
Tide information is given as you can only walk the coast path low tide route across the River Gann up to three hours either side of low tide. The alternative is a two mile walk around the estuary.
It’s an interesting walk as you’re surrounded by water during some parts.
Bring binoculars to fully appreciate the birds and wildlife living in this area.
Chasing Sunsets
While we were on this walk, the sun began to set. This looked particularly beautiful above the yellow gorse.
Instead of taking a circular walk, we walked so far and then back so we could walk back into Dale in time to sit and watch the stars in the dark.
On our way back we spotted these sheep getting into a line in the field across the road.
Dale Lime Kilns, Pembrokeshire
Then we crossed the road to see the Dale lime Kilns. You can also see in this photo how the car park has been closed off and there is now only off road parking in the layby.
These lime kilns were perfectly located right next to the sea so vessels could deliver the limestone from Cresswell Quarry. This could then be used for mortar in architecture and to make fertiliser for agriculture purposes.
These limekilns at Pilkeridge, Dale, were lovingly restored by Dale Environment Group and Friends of Pembrokeshire National Park, who completed the work in 2011.
Stargazing in Dale, Pembrokeshire
Lastly, before we headed home we sat on a bench overlooking the beach to sit and watch the stars for a while. We were lucky that this was an evening when the International Space Station and Starlink were passing over us at the same time.
Pembrokeshire is a great place for stargazing due to it’s low light pollution. I have to admit that I used to take this for granted when I was younger as it was all I’d known. Nearby, Kete carpark is one of the many designated dark sky stargazing locations in Pembrokeshire.
Visiting Dale
So this was a visit to Dale just before the weather warms up and the tourist season really begins. Head there for a beach day out, a wildlife walk , a sea view meal or just to stargaze. It’s also a lovely place to stay and there are great camp sites, guest houses and holiday homes to choose from.
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