Hiding away behind castle walls and almost invisible at high tide, Tenby Castle Beach is not the easiest to find. But, nestled in between the more well-known North and South beaches, maybe that’s part of what make this award winner so special.
A sandy beach backed by cliffs, there’s so much to see and do here. Lots of nooks and crannies to explore and steps to climb.
Right next to Castle Hill with its bandstand, castle, museum and lifeboat station, you are not going to get bored here any time soon.
At low tide you can also get a boat to Caldey Island from here or walk to St Catherine’s Island, with it’s historic fort.
Close to lots of facilities, food, drink and conveniences, it joins up with South Beach in such a seamless way it’s hard know where Castle beach ends and South beach begins.
It can also be accessed via the slipway from the top of the harbour and is a short walk from the centre of Tenby.
How to get to Tenby Castle Beach
Tenby is in Pembrokeshire, the western most county in Wales. Way beyond the Western end of the M4 it’s very well signposted as you get closer.
From the East – Cardiff/Swansea
- Take the M4 West to it’s end at Pont Abraham services
- Take the A48 to Carmarthen from this roundabout, and
- At Carmarthen take the A40 for St. Clears.
- At the St. Clears roundabout take the first exit for the A477, signposted Tenby.
- Stay on this road until you get to Kilgetty.
- At the Kilgetty roundabout take the first exit (A478) towards Tenby.
- At New Hedges, go straight ahead at the roundabout and stay on this road until you reach Tenby. (For directions to the car park see below).
- Tenby is approximately 18 miles from St. Clears (a drive of approximately 26 minutes).
From the North – Aberystwyth
- Take the A487 to Cardigan and then the A478 towards Crymych.
- Stay on the A478 until you get to, what is known locally as, Penblewyn Roundabout.
- At the roundabout take the second exit (straight ahead) to Narberth.
- Tenby is well signposted from Narberth. Follow the one-way system in Narberth until you can bear left on the hill towards Templeton
- Pass through the village of Templeton and Folly Farm Park before reaching Begelly/Kilgetty.
- Pass straight through the two roundabouts and stay on the A478.
- At New Hedges again, go straight ahead at the roundabout and you will reach Tenby after around 1.5 miles. (For directions to the car parks see below).
- Tenby is approximately 6 miles from Kilgetty (a drive of approximately 12 minutes)
Where to park for Tenby Castle Beach
As Tenby Castle Beach is right in the centre of town’s coastline, the Multi Storey car park and South beach car parks are the closest large car parks and they are equidistant to Castle Beach.
However there are two small pay and display car parks closer to Castle Beach, Five Arches and Rectory Park Pay and Display car parks.
OS grid refs. and nearest postcodes
- Five Arches car park Map Ref. SN 13364 00327 – SA70 7DL
- Rectory Park car park Map Ref. SN13189 00226 – SA70 7EB
Alternatively you could park at North Beach car park which is a little further away.
Facilities at Tenby Castle Beach
There’s a café right on Tenby Castle beach and public conveniences just off it (on the slipway).
For more choice, Tenby town centre, with it’s great range of shops, cafes and restaurants, is a short walk away.
Tours can be taken of St. Catherine’s Island which can be reached at low water.
Weather permitting, boats to Caldey run every 15 minutes, from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m., every day except Sundays, from May until mid September.
Where to stay near Tenby Castle Beach
The nearest places to stay are on The Esplanade, the street which practically overlooks the beach. The sea-views from here are really difficult to beat.
There’s also an abundance of accommodation all over Tenby from B&Bs and guesthouses to Hotels and Self-catering options.
If you find somewhere within Tenby town centre itself you’re not going to be more than a few minutes walk from Tenby Castle Beach
We always check out what’s available where at Booking.com
More information about Tenby
There are actually 4 Beaches in Tenby and they’re all as good as they are individual. They regularly win awards and feature in top 10 lists of beaches in the UK.
The Sunday Times rated Tenby’s Castle Beach the best in the UK in 2019.
Check out our destination guide to Tenby which contains useful information such as how to get there and when to visit as well as our post on Things to do around Tenby.
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Other Posts on Pembrokeshire
10 thoughts on “Tenby Castle Beach”
Tenby castle beach looks lovely! And I love a beach that you can walk to somewhere hidden in the low tide 🙂
Thanks Lannie. That is pretty cool!
This hidden gem of a beach looks great! The colorful houses do look super cute!
Thanks Carina, it’s great!
Tenby and the Gower is somewhere I need to take the dog. Monmouth is the only part of Wales he has visited.
Definitely 👍 We think he’d love it!
What a beautiful beach ⛱ Tenby seems to be beautiful. I wonder if we go can you guarantee those blue skies 😀
Of course we can 😉😆
This brought back wonderful memories of my school trip to Tenby and visiting the beautiful Tenby Castle Beach.
That’s great to hear Wendy! We were probably there at the same time!