And here’s what they thought:
We were keen on a dog-friendly family beach break in Wales, and plumped for Pendine Sands Holiday Park near Tenby in Carmarthenshire, South Wales.
It’s a fairly easy drive from the South of England and Pendine Sands Holiday Park is in the heart of the village, just across the (very quiet) road from Pendine Sands Beach, which is a vast 7-mile stretch that in days gone by was a prime location for land-speed record attempts, and even served as an airstrip for aviator Amy Johnson on her non-stop flight to the US in 1933 – there is a lovely little museum on the seafront documenting Pendine’s place in the annals of land-speed record attempts.
In the days when cars and roads were perhaps a little less predictable Pendine Sands also served as a safe practice ground for learner drivers. These days you might see land yachts cruising up and down the distant stretches of beach, and the village end is lovely for buckets and spades.
The beach also has decent waves for surfing in heavy swells and enough space for a dog to attempt its own four-legged land speed record (ours seemed hell-bent on that). The cliffs at the village end of the beach provide some great rock-pooling opportunities and the climb up the steps leading from the seafront shops and cafes is rewarded by a very pretty walk along the cliff-tops.
We got ourselves easily settled in our Severn caravan – a two-bedroom, dog-friendly model that sleeps 4-6 and was modern, clean and very well equipped. We were also very close to the clubhouse where there was a great little swimming pool that the kids loved, and really fun cabaret entertainment in the evening, supported by the ever-enthusiastic holiday park staff.
We booked our holiday relatively last minute, favouring a caravan over a camping trip having checked out the grisly weather forecast, and two days of torrential rain on our arrival in Wales had us congratulating ourselves on our choice. On the second day we found ourselves driving through a flood with the water washing over the tops of the headlights, probably the highlight of the holiday for the kids, a slightly less fun moment for the parents…
There are plenty of family activities in the area and imposing castles are a feature of the surrounding landscape, Carmarthen Castle and Pembroke Castle our particular favourites.
For a day’s surfing, we drove to Freshwater West Beach, about an hour from Pendine, which gets waves even when the swell is relatively small. It is quite a remote beach in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park with an absolutely stunning stretch of sand, backed by tall sand dunes with some fabulous rock-pools at either end. The beach is dog friendly and the water is very clean.
Whilst the dog was busy trying to dig its way through the Earth’s crust, we enjoyed some great surfing and body-boarding. There is the assurance for water worshippers of having RNLI lifeguards on watch, however, the beach isn’t ideal for swimming as it is prone to rip currents. By the way, it is also close to an army firing range so on some days you might feel like an extra from Saving Private Ryan. There are toilets and a snack van in the free car park by the beach – it does get very busy on sunny days, so best to arrive early to avoid the bun fight.
Our best day, weather-wise, was at Barafundle Bay, near Stackpole, a truly magical beach, that takes a little effort to reach from the pay-and-display car park, but is well worth the short hike that also discourages teeming hordes of beachgoers. Hemmed in by limestone cliffs with trees lining one side that trail back through sand dunes into more magical-looking woodland. Clear blue water and a sandy beach complete this picture-postcard perfection.
A very enjoyable holiday was had at Pendine Sands, blighted only by the day the dog rolled in something so awful that we had to wash it with our own shower gel, which still didn’t do much more than take the edge off the appalling smell. Dog shampoo has now been added to our holiday packing list.
