About Salem, Strumble Head and the Area

Beautiful Beaches

There are beautiful clean, safe beaches, especially at Newport, Traeth Llyfn (Porthgain), Abermawr and Whitesands (St David’s). Parrog beach at Goodwick, and Lower Town, Fishguard, are safe for most watersports while there are opportunities for good fishing from the long breakwaters. Fishguard itself is only 3 miles away, a small, timeless market town with a range of shops including two supermarkets, art galleries, pubs, cinema and several restaurants, and a food and craft market every week – not to mention four music festivals each year! 

With many children’s activities available the area is an ideal place for a family holiday in Wales – look locally for ideas or Visit Pembrokeshire to look at the broader picture.

Families

Depending on your family’s tastes and age-groups there is a wide range of activities within easy reach of Salem.  For the adventurous you will find a selection of: surfing, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, horse riding, and Pembrokeshire’s own Coasteering – or, for the more leisurely: coarse fishing, golfing, and Fishguard’s leisure centre with its heated indoor pool.  See these and more on the Visit Fishguard website.

Crabbing is fun for all the family. Probably the best site in all Pembrokeshire for this ancient and satisfying pastime is at Fishguard’s Lower Town quay. Here you can buy all you need at The Yacht Club Café (April – end September). Fishermen also land their catches there so you can sometimes pick up a bargain.

In September and October seal pups can often be seen on the beaches from the coastal footpath, which brightens the treks for younger visitors.

Walking

Salem is in one of Britains finest walking areas.  Whether you want to takle the 186 mile (299 Km) Coastal Path or gently saunter around the peninsula there is a wonderful range of walks that start at the cottage door!  The whole coastal path is served by public transport – this section by the Fflecsi (Flexy) Bus – enabling you to ride to the start of your chosen stretch and arrive again, at the cottage door.

If you want a change from the coast, the Preseli Hills (from which the Stonehenge stones are said to originate) are only a few miles away and provide wonderful walking.

Bird Watching

Strumble Head is one of Wales’, and perhaps the U.K’s, top coastal birding locations.The headland juts out so far into the Irish Sea that birds normally shy of land will short-cut close inshore.

The prime conditions are after a good south-westerly gale when the wind veers north-westerly. Then you can be among those lucky people to spot migratory birds seldom see in the British Isles. Recent sightings include:  Balearic Shearwater, Arctic Skua, Bonxie, Black Tern, Common Scoter, Long Tailed Skua, Sooty Shearwater, Great Skua, Little Gull, Roseate Tern – plus porpoises, dolphins and a sun fish.

For even more variety there are visits available to North Pembrokeshire’s four offshore islands: Skomer, Skokholm, Ramsey and, for the adenturous, Grassholm, a nesting colony of countless thousands of Gannets.