porthcawl - sandy bay / Coney Beach

• General details
• Directions
• How the winds work
• Tidal conditions
• Hazards
• Facilities
• B&B's / Campsites
• Pubs & eateries

General details:

The name on the OS map is Sandy Bay. Locals refer to it as Coney Beach.

I've looked over the beach - unfortunately, there was no wind - & it looks promising, especially at low tide. At HW. it'll probably be quite sheltered except from S - SE.

It's a big beach at LW, with quite a long walk to the water.

There's a huge harbour wall at the W end of the bay. It looks like a good thing to avoid.

There's a peeling wave that forms over by the headland on the E side, between here & Trecco. Looks like it might be useful in E wind.

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Directions to the right place:

Leave M4 @ Junction 37, follow A4229 towards Porthcawl.

At roundabout after ~3 miles, carry straight on along a piece of dual carriageway into Porthcawl. At the next roundabout, turn L - turning back on yourself. After 200m take the 3rd exit at the roundabout into New Rd.

After 300m, turn sharp right into Macworth Rd. Before you get to the amusement arcades & shops on the L, turn L into a large car park (free when I was there in winter). Carry on to the far end & you're at the top of the beach.

Click here for map.

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How the winds work:

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Tidal conditions:

HW springs tend to occur around 08:00 - 09:00. HW neaps between 13:00 - 15:30. Huge tidal range - over 11m max.

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Hazards:

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Facilities:

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B&B's / campsites

Happy Valley - about 10 minutes from Trecco Bay on the main road to Porthcawl from Bridgend on the left hand side.

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Pubs and eateries

Burger King and other fast foods on the main Coney Beach/Sandy Bay just along from Trecco in Porthcawl.

Beale Park Fish & Chips between funfair & harbour

Station Hill Fish bar, New Road.

Sidoli's Fish & Chips at S end of John St. (near Harbour & breakwater).

We've had reports that the owner of the Buccaneer Bar (who also seems to own the Burger King & the chippy) doesn't like motor bikes. - This just in (Dec '05): "Your report of Sandy Bay Porthcawl regarding Motor Bikes is totally untrue. Please ammend your report. We serve many bikers with Faggot and Peas and Fish and Chips". So there.

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Content supplied by & (presumably) the proprietor of the Buccaneer Bar (Dec '05).

Note: All comments and opinions mentioned in this section of the site are the personal opinions of the various contributors. Inevitably, one person's favourite may be another person's least favourite.

The information provided here is provided in good faith. We can take no responsibility for the consequences of any inaccuracies. Should you find any inaccuracies, then please take the trouble to tell us, using any of the update links.

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