Location and the Beach
Pembrey beach is several miles long and is a very wide, flat sandy beach. Even at high tide there is probably 10 meters of sandy beach between the water and the dunes so you will not be cut off at high tide. If the tide is out then the sand 50 meters or more from the dunes seems to be significantly firmer, which makes walking easier.
You may use the beach for a naturist walk or just for a day lying on the beach. How far you can walk varies greatly with the day of the week. See notes below.
Directions
Access to the beach is most easily achieved via the Pembrey Country Park which is towards the eastern end of the beach. (Note: Pay entry fee at the booth at the entrance to the park - it is only a few pounds.) There are several access points to the beach and these are signed as CE56, CE57, CE58, etc. Just behind the dunes at CE56 are toilets and refreshments. The latitude and longitude in this entry are for the car park that is probably most convenient for the naturist area. There is direct access from this car park to the beach via CE57.
Access to the beach and Naturism
From CE57 head west (right as you face the sea) and walk about 1 mile - just past CE59 is a large crescent of rocks which is generally accepted as the start of the naturist tolerant section of the beach. The owners of the park discourage nudity and threaten to prosecute if you are nude before the rocks. Whether or not the ban on nudity is enforceable, it should be noted that I stripped off half way to the rocks and some people on the beach looked uncomfortable so if you do the same there is a high probability of complaints and subsequent hassle.
Once past the rocks you may strip off and just relax on the beach or continue to walk.
You may walk the next 1.5 miles naked and I am not aware of any problems. This brings you to the flag pole at the start of the RAF / MoD part of the beach. DO NOT enter the RAF / MoD section of the beach if the flag is flying. The times of restrictions vary but usually you may use this section of beach all day at weekends or after 16:30 on weekdays.
If the RAF / MoD section is "open" you may walk a further 2 miles, eventually rounding the end of the beach and passing a second flag pole as you enter the estuary. It appears theoretically possible that people might enter the beach from this end, but the estuary looks fairly uninviting so it is unlikely that you will bump into any "vulnerable persons".
Additional Information
In summary, this is a simple walk up the beach and back again so you may obviously turn around at any point to vary the length of the walk.
- It is a 2 mile round trip just to get to the naturist section to lie on the beach.
- Weekdays during the day (when the MoD section is restricted) the naturist walk is a 3 mile round trip (total of 5 miles including the walk to the naturist section),
- At weekends (or weekday evenings) the naturist walk is a 7 mile round trip (total of 9 miles including the walk to the naturist section).
The country park is popular with families and children so during weekends and school holidays the beach in front of the park is likely to by busy.
Dog walkers use CE59 so this area is likely to be busy (mostly adults) at all times.
Note Aug 2017: In the past naturist use of Cefn Sidan has been subject to vociferous opposition by a local councillor who, at that time was chair of the relevant council committee. However that seems to have all blown over and there have been no adverse reports recently.
Last update: 03 May 20
Edited by Lee and Susan