Barafundle Bay

Barafundle has no vehicle access of any kind: reaching it means parking at Stackpole Quay and walking about a kilometre over a headland, up a flight of stone steps and down through an archway in an old estate wall to the sand. The Cawdor family, who owned Stackpole, built the wall and steps and planted the pines behind the dunes in the eighteenth century as part of a designed landscape, which is why a wild-looking beach has formal masonry at its entrance. The sand is pale and the water clear over limestone. Because everything must be carried in and out, the beach has no facilities, no bins and no lifeguard. The Stackpole estate behind holds the Bosherston lily ponds, dug as ornamental lakes and now holding otters.

What you actually see

• The walk-in access - no road, a kilometre over a headland from Stackpole Quay.
• The estate archway - eighteenth-century wall and steps down to the sand.
• The planted pines - a designed backdrop behind the dunes.
• The clear water - pale sand over limestone with no development in sight.

When to go

May to September for the beach; the walk is pleasant year-round and the bay is empty out of season. Early morning in summer avoids both the crowd and the car park queue.

Honest expectations

There are no toilets, no shop, no bins and no lifeguard, and everything brought in must be carried back out. The walk includes steps in both directions and is not accessible for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Stackpole Quay parking is charged and full by mid-morning in summer.

Nearby

Stackpole Quay and the lily ponds are behind; St Govan's Chapel lies west along the coast.