Outdoor Activities
Visitors to our beautiful part of Wales are spoilt for choice when it comes to adventures in the great outdoors. Pembrokeshire has everything from wonderful walking paths and fruitful fishing spots, to challenging cycle paths and stunning seabird sanctuaries - not to mention spectacular sea-scapes to explore at your heart’s content.
Mountain-bike along tricky trails, or even get the adrenaline pumping by coasteering off our rugged coastline – if you’re feeling brave! There’s a slower pace at the great golf courses, walking trails, plus plenty of magnificent birdwatching sites.
Here are some of our favourite outdoor things to do in Pembrokeshire.
Birdwatching
Pembrokeshire is a happy hunting ground for birdwatchers, with a wide variety of birdlife on display that includes seabirds, songbirds, raptors, waders, wildfowl, corvines, ocean wanderers, warblers, finches - the list goes on and on! The seabird sanctuary islands are world famous - Skomer, Skokholm, Ramsey, Grassholm - for Manx shearwaters, guillemots, razorbills, puffins, kittiwakes, gannets, storm petrels, shags, cormorants and a host of other species. There are daily trips to Skomer by boat from Martin’s Haven, and evening trips are also available, when the loud and eerie cries of emerging shearwaters fill the air.
Springtime is the best period for a visit to Skomer for the island is not only loud with birds then, but also a riot of colour, with oceans of bluebells and red campion. Dale Sailing (01646 603109, 603110 and 603123) offers boat trips to and around the islands, as does Thousand Island Expeditions at St Davids (01437 721721) and Venture Jet at Trefin (01348 837764). Pembrokeshire Boat Charters at Milford Haven (01646-4946578) specialises in tailor-made boat trips around the islands and the estuaries.
Coasteering
Adrenaline filled adventure awaits on the rugged, wild coast of Pembrokeshire! Using a combination of scrambling, climbing, swimming, and jumping, you’ll ride waves, scale rough terrain and jump into blue waters, as you explore the coastline and caves that make up a shoreline shaped by the elements.
Invented in Pembrokeshire, coasteering is a can’t miss experience, providing thrill-seekers with a rush only wild nature can provide.
We do recommend having your swimmers on under your clothes ready to go, as well as a towel and a change of warm clothes to get into post-session as you look back on the coastal adventure you’ve just embarked on.
You'll be picked up from the dedicated meeting point on resort and taken to a picturesque location for an adrenaline filled experience.
Log in to your booking and add Coasteering to your itinerary today!
Falconry
There are few nicer, more picturesque places in the world than Pembrokeshire and the sights and sounds of the countryside are only enhanced with a trained bird of prey flying along side you as you walk through lush, green fields and beautiful woodland. Established in 2004 in West Wales, Pembrokeshire Falconry is a family-run business that offers the chance to come face-to-face with birds of prey and share in the magic and excitement that only comes from that first time a hawk, falcon, eagle or owl lands on your arm.
During your time with Pembrokeshire Falconry, you could see a variety of wildlife such as rabbits, squirrels, partridge and pheasants, numerous song birds and a variety of birds of prey including buzzards, sparrow hawks, kestrels and red kites All experiences, when booked through Pembrokeshire Falconry, are kept 100% private and its birds are suitable for the whole family to hold, fly and enjoy! For more information email information@pembrokeshire-falconry.co.uk or call 07833 921421.
Golf
If you’re looking for fantastic golf facilities, Pembrokeshire is certainly spoilt for choice with long-established 18-hole golf clubs including Tenby, Haverfordwest, Milford Haven, Newport and St Davids - together with a number of new nine-hole mini courses and many driving ranges. No doubt the oldest links in the county is Tenby which was established in 1888 and has seen quite a few championship competitions over the years.
Meanwhile, Haverfordwest’s century-old Golf Club was started on a different site on the town’s disused Georgian Racecourse. Now situated on land beside the A4O at Arnold’s Down, its relatively new clubhouse commands a magnificent panoramic view to the west, which includes Haverfordwest and Roch Castle.
Milford Haven had a modest course until the late 1950s when the oil industry bought land along Milford Haven Waterway to build their refineries. The Club benefited significantly from oil industry funding when Amoco drove a road through to its terminal at Gellyswick and was able to redesign the 18-hole course.
St David’s is another links course with splendid views and many tricky ups and downs, on the cliff and among the dunes at Whitesands Bay, but perhaps the most picturesque links in the county is in North Pembrokeshire at Newport, where the golfers face the challenge of many hidden greens, with gorse-clad hills and a beautiful view from the clubhouse across to historic Newport.
Mountain Biking
Mountain biking is a growing sport in Pembrokeshire where there are several trails - some of them challenging, and others making for easy riding. The 16-mile Canaston Trail takes riders from the quaint little market town of Narberth, which in recent years has carved a special niche for itself as a unique boutique town of specialised gift shops, restaurants and art galleries.
If you'd prefer a guided Mountain Biking experience, then take in the sights, sound and spectacle of the woodland surrounding the resort on our Electric Mountain Biking Adventure Day!
Using state of the art electric mountains bikes, you’ll be able to discover more of what nature has to offer than ever before. Travelling further and deeper into woodland trails and paths.
Previous mountain biking and off-road experience is essential for this full day adventure, as we delve deep into the ancient woodland. Your guide will also be on hand to offer coaching and guidance so you can maximise your bike's potential and hone your technique! Try the Half Day Electric Mountain Biking Adventure for a more relaxed introduction to Mountain Biking.
Walking
Walk the rolling hills, beautiful wooded valleys and estuaries and, of course, the 183-mile long Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Footpath, which encircles the entire county from Amroth in the south-east to Poppit in the north-west. The only coastal National Park in the country, not only does it cover the coastal strip, but there are two large inland enclaves: one in the north embracing the Preseli Hills and one in mid-Pembrokeshire covering a large area of the Daucleddau Estuary from Carew and Upton in the south to Canaston Bridge and Freystrop in the north.
The Coastal Footpath can be walked in stages, with the help of the several coastal shuttle services provided by the National Park Authority in collaboration with Pembrokeshire County Council, which can pick up and drop off the walkers at various bus stops and car parks to avoid long treks back to the car or campsite.
These colourful little buses have jolly names like the Puffin Shuttle, the Poppit Rocket. the Strumble Shuttle and the Coastal Cruiser. The National Park Tourist Information Centres are: Oriel y Parc at St Davids (01437 720392 / info@orielyparc.co.uk / www.orielyparc.co.uk); Newport TIC in Long Street (01239 820912 / newportTIC@pembrokeshirecoast.org.uk) and Tenby TIC at South Parade (01834 845040 / tenbycentre@pembrokeshirecoast.org.uk).
Visitors are also recommended to pick up a copy of the National Park’s informative free-sheet newspaper, Coast to Coast, which is available at all Tourist Information Centres and also in libraries, shops and supermarkets. It is a mine of information about the activities and facilities available in the National Park.