This is a list of the bays of Wales by principal area, taken clockwise around the Welsh coast from the English border at Chepstow to the Dee estuary. It includes coastal indentations which are known by names other than bay (e.g. haven, porth) but which nevertheless have similar characteristics. In addition to those listed, there are numerous bays which remain unnamed on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, the principal source of names appearing in this list. [1]
By far the largest bay in Wales is Cardigan Bay, occupying the larger part of the west coast. Other major bays are Swansea Bay, Carmarthen Bay, St Brides Bay, Caernarfon Bay and Conwy Bay. The list is divided into principal areas; 16 of the 22 in Wales have a coast though that of Powys is insignificant. Pembrokeshire has been further divided in view of the large number of bays along its intricate coastline, the greater part of which is protected as a national park. Where a bay is shared by more than one principal area, it is listed under both.
Both Monmouthshire and Newport front onto the Severn Estuary. There are no named bays along the low-lying coast of these two principal areas.
Many of the mainly shallow bays along the coast of the Vale of Glamorgan are backed by cliffs of Jurassic limestone. The Vale of Glamorgan's boundary with Cardiff runs through Cardiff Bay.
The coast of Bridgend is low lying with plentiful sand. The largest bay, east of Porthcawl is unnamed on OS maps.
The coast of Neath Port Talbot is low-lying and relatively straight save for estuaries and a harbour complex.
The coast of Swansea includes half of Swansea Bay, half of the Loughor estuary and the entirety of the Gower Peninsula.
The Carmarthenshire coast includes a handful of large estuaries and a couple of large dune systems.
The scenic cliff-backed bays and headlands of Pembrokeshire are a key part of the area's designation as a national park.
From the Carmarthenshire border, west to the mouth of Milford Haven.
Caldey Island is an offshore part of Pembrokeshire.
The Milford Haven Waterway include numerous sheltered creeks and bays.
From Milford Haven to St Brides Bay.
Skokholm is an offshore part of Pembrokeshire.
Skomer is an offshore part of Pembrokeshire.
St Brides Bay is a deep indentation in Pembrokeshire's west coast which contains numerous smaller bays.
From St Brides Bay to the border with Ceredigion. The north coast forms a part of the southern shore of the larger Cardigan Bay.
Ramsey Island is an offshore part of north Pembrokeshire. It includes clockwise from the south the following indentations: Porth Lleuog, Pwll Bendro, Aber Mawr, Bay Ogof Hen, Rhod Uchaf, Rhod Isaf, Aberfelin, Yr Hen-ffordd, Abermyharan
The Ceredigion coast is a gentle curve forming part of the shore of the larger Cardigan Bay but includes a handful of named indentations.
The Powys 'coast' is a short stretch of tidal estuary of the River Dovey devoid of bays.
The coast of Gwynedd includes several bays which are indentations of the larger Cardigan Bay. There are a large number of small bays on the coast of the Llŷn Peninsula.
Anglesey is Wales' largest island. Its coast is heavily indented. Clockwise around its coast from Abermenai Point at its southern tip are:
The coast of Conwy extends some way to east and west of the Conwy estuary.
There are no bays indenting the coast of either Denbighshire or Flintshire in northeast Wales though both front onto the much larger Liverpool Bay.
Snowdonia, or Eryri, is a mountainous region and national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon, which is 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) tall. These peaks are all part of the Snowdon, Glyderau, and Carneddau ranges in the north of the region. The shorter Moelwynion and Moel Hebog ranges lie immediately to the south.
Ramsey Island is an island about 1 kilometre off St David's Head in Pembrokeshire on the northern side of St Brides Bay, in southwest Wales, in the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. It is 259 hectares in area. Ramsey means Hrafn's island.
Penmaenmawr is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was an important quarrying town, though quarrying is no longer a major employer. The population of the community was 4,353 in 2011, including Dwygyfylchi and Capelulo. The town itself having a population of 2,868 (2011).
Carmarthen Bay is an inlet of the South Wales coast, including notable beaches such as Pendine Sands and Cefn Sidan sands. Carmarthen Bay is partially within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee list Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries as a Special Area of Conservation.
The River Conwy is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is 55 kilometres (34 mi) long and drains an area of 678 square km. "Conwy" was formerly anglicised as "Conway."
Porthclais is a small sheltered inlet harbour near St Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close.
Golf is a popular sport in Wales. Although the sport of golf in Great Britain is most associated with Scotland, where it was established and developed, Wales can record its first courses back to the 1880s, and today has over 200 clubs. The first amateur golf competition was held in 1895, and the first professional championship was in 1904. Wales has produced several players of note, including one player, Ian Woosnam, who has won one of the Men's major golf championships and Wales has twice won the men's World Cup, in 1987 and 2005, respectively. Wales also hosted the Ryder Cup, when it was held at Newport's Celtic Manor Resort in 2010.
Pîl is a Welsh placename element. The name is defined as the tidal reach of a waterway, suitable as a harbour, and is common along the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary. The highly localised distribution suggests it may have been part of a common maritime culture on the waterways within the tidal reach of the Severn Sea.
The coastline of Wales extends from the English border at Chepstow westwards to Pembrokeshire then north to Anglesey and back eastwards to the English border once again near Flint. Its character is determined by multiple factors, including the local geology and geological processes active during and subsequent to the last ice age, its relative exposure to or shelter from waves, tidal variation and the history of human settlement and development which varies considerably from one place to another. The majority of the coast east of Cardiff in the south, and of Llandudno in the north, is flat whilst that to the west is more typically backed by cliffs. The cliffs are a mix of sandstones, shales and limestones, the erosion of which provides material for beach deposits. Of the twenty-two principal areas which deliver local government in Wales, sixteen have a coastline, though that of Powys consists only of a short section of tidal river some distance from the open sea. Its length has been estimated at 1,680 miles (2,700 km).
The geology of Pembrokeshire in Wales inevitably includes the geology of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park which extends around the larger part of the county's coastline and where the majority of rock outcrops are to be seen. Pembrokeshire's bedrock geology is largely formed from a sequence of sedimentary and igneous rocks originating during the late Precambrian and the Palaeozoic era, namely the Ediacaran, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous periods, i.e. between 635 and 299 Ma. The older rocks in the north of the county display patterns of faulting and folding associated with the Caledonian Orogeny. On the other hand, the late Palaeozoic rocks to the south owe their fold patterns and deformation to the later Variscan Orogeny.