Porthcawl lifeboat station (Bridgend)

Sandy Bay beach in Porthcawl is a large sheltered and sandy beach in front of the fairground known as Coney Beach. Sandy Bay curves round and joins onto Trecco Bay beach after Rhych Point. Sandy Bay is popular with families who can enjoy a traditional seaside location including donkey and pony rides on the beach, alongside other facilities such as trampolines and bouncy castles and the adjacent Coney Beach Fun Fair. This beach is popular with surfers.

Trecco Bay beach is one of the many Porthcawl bays and is a large sand and rocky beach between two rocky points, situated between Sandy Bay and Newton Beach. The only facilities are at the holiday park and you do have seasonal lifeguards. Although only a short walk from Trecco Bay holiday park this beach is typically not that busy.

Rest Bay beach is approximately 2.5 kilometres at low tide, and faces south west towards the Bristol Channel.  The beach is a mix of sand with rock slabs and pebbles at the high tide line. Porthcawl town sits in the south-east end of the bay, while the north-west end has the Royal Porthcawl Golf Course. Popular with surfers, windsurfing and kitesurfing in designated zones.

Newton Bay beach also known as Black Rock beach to the east of Porthcawl is a long sandy and rocky beach, backed by the very large Newton Burrows and Merthyr Mawr sand dunes, a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The beach stretches from Newton Point to the mouth of the River Ogmore at Ogmore-by-Sea. Newton Beach is popular with walkers, horse riders, windsurfers, kitesurfers, jet skiers and power boat users. People looking for a family beach tend to look towards one of the other Porthcawl bays. Car parking but for other facilities you need to go to either Newton village or Trecco Bay holiday park.

Merthyr Mawr Sand Dunes are part of a really large sand dune complex located by Porthcawl on the south coast of Wales. The sand dunes at Merthyr Mawr are the second highest in Europe and shows off various stages of development from bare sand to areas of dune woodland and scrub. The area is managed by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), and it is designated as a SSSI because of it gives a great habitat for a large and varied range of wildlife and plants. It’s popular for its wildlife and plants and famous as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ was filmed here. Kids love dune boarding here and it’s a wonderful day out with the family having a picnic and just enjoying the beach area and the dunes. You have a large car park with toilets and throughout the dunes well-trodden paths. The nearby villages have a selection of shops, and pubs.

Kenfig National Nature Reserve is near Porthcawl, Bridgend and offers a fresh water lake and dunes. This is a highlight for bird watchers as the area is a stopover for many migrating birds. There are great views from the rserve across the Swansea Bay and wild orchids grow in the woodlands wit butterflies and birds making it home. There is also an exhibition centre and shop and an area for the disabled to enjoy closer to the car park. Legends abound here and some say the lake is bottomless and that there is a whirlpool that drags people to their deaths! In medieval times people believed that a city lay under the water and that it flooded as a recrimination against a young couple in love. The reserve is a wonderful place to walk and enjoy the outdoors and has many trails and picnic areas. Facilities include parking, wheelchair access, walks, exhibition centre, shop and toilets.