Kate & Sheila Hamilton, from Sussex, travelled to the Dolphin Coast, in Wales.’We booked a long weekend in an apartment looking on to Newport Bay, Pembrokeshire, on the west Wales coast.
Our self- catering flat, in a roomy Victorian house, was beautifully decorated and well-equipped. The best part of it was the spectacular view. In fact, we could have spent all day — from rosy dawn to spectacular sunset — just gazing at the early-morning swimmers, fishing boats, riders galloping their horses along the sands, a sailing regatta, children playing in rock pools and birds feeding on the incoming tide. As we were on the edge of the coastal path, we could also see walkers following the trail (Pembrokeshire has the only coastal national park
in Britain, hugging the coastline for 186 miles). Pembrokeshire is just perfect for a short break in any season.
There are seabirds in spring and wild flowers cover the clifftops through until summer, which is when the puffins and dolphins make an appearance. Then, in autumn, the seal cubs are born. Sea life
can easily be seen either on boat trips (try Voyages of Discovery at St Justinians, near St Davids) or from the coastal path. We drove to Martins Haven, owned by the National Trust, and on our clifftop walk, peered over steep cliffs to little coves where fluffy white baby seals were being fed by their mothers. The surrounding waters are full of porpoises and dolphins — a pod of well over 1,000 common dolphins was sighted off the Pembrokeshire islands earlier that summer. Back at our flat, admiring the sunset, we couldn’t believe our eyes — dolphins leaping in the waters of Newport Bay! We enjoyed leisurely lunches — especially at the Druidstone Hotel, Broadhaven (a bit off the beaten track but worth the journey) and Cnapan Country House in Newport. Both places are family-run and use top-quality local ingredients. We bought our supper in local shops selling organic food and freshly caught fish. Before our journey home we visited the ancient cromlech at Pentre Ifan, just outside Newport. The blue stones from the surrounding Preseli Hills were used for Stonehenge — still one of the great mysteries of our prehistoric past.’