Five of the best places to watch the sunrise in Pembrokeshire National park
In this blog post I have listed five places to watch the sunrise from in Pembrokeshire National Park.
This list is far from exclusive and there are a whole host of other wonderful sunrise locations scattered across Pembrokeshire’s 186 miles of rugged coastline.
In fact some of the best locations are usually the lesser known spots where you’ll find no-one around. You simply have to set that alarm (or dont sleep at all) and have the endeavour to seek the locations out.
At a glance
Green Bridge of Wales
Tenby
Broadhaven South
Barafundle Bay
Church Door Cove
The best sunrise location depends on the time of year
Because of Pembrokeshire’s westerly facing coastline, there aren’t as many spectacular places to watch the sunrise from as there are sunsets.
If you are looking for the best places to watch the sunset in Pembrokeshire, check out my separate blog post here.
Another thing to note, is that the direction in which the sun rises changes throughout the year.
Around the winter solstice (December 21st) the sun will set in the south east.
Around the Spring and Autumn equinox’s, on March 21st and September 21st, the sun sets in the east and at the Summer solstice on June 21st it sets in the north east.
Because of this, the best time and season to watch the sunset in Pembrokeshire is during the shorter winter months (November to February) from the south coast.
What I use to pick and plan sunset locations
I personally use an app called PhotoPills to choose sunset locations, alongside helping me plan photo compositions for sunset, sunrise, and the milky way.
I have no affiliation with the company and I hate paying for apps when there are free ones available (It costs a one off fee of £9.99) , but PhotoPills is packed full of amazing features and was definitely worth the investment.
The app allows me to see where the sun will set months and even years into the future, and has an augmented reality mode which uses your phones camera to show you exactly which point on the horizon the sun will rise and where it will set.
The Green Bridge of Wales & Stack Rocks
Located on the south coast, the Green Bridge of Wales is a spectacular 30m high cliff arch which protrudes from the Pembrokeshire coastline.
Situated 500m down the coast are several colossal sea stacks which have been separated from the mainland over centuries of erosion.
Both are incredible places to watch the sunrise from, and can be reached by walking several hundred meters from the car park.
A word of warning, the Green bridge of Wales is often closed to the public.
The car park can only be reached by driving 2km through the Castlemartin military firing range. For safety purposes, the road is closed off to the public during training exercises.
In order to save yourself a wasted trip and to find out if the road is open you can call +44 (0) 1646 662367.
Tenby
Due to its southerly easterly facing direction, Pembrokeshire’s most popular seaside town has to be one of the best places on this list to watch the sunrise.
Not matter the time of year you should have an unobstructed view of the sunrise. Depending on what time of year you visit, the best place to watch the sunrise from would either be Castle hill or above the harbour.
Broadhaven South
Also situated on the South Coast of Pembrokeshire (see the recurring theme here), Broadhaven South is a wide sandy beach backed by a sea of sand dunes.
The most distinctive feature of this beach is the prominent church rock which protrudes from the centre of the bay.
If heading here for sunrise, the closest car park is located above the beach.
Once you finished watching the sunrise I would recommend walking around Bosherston Lily ponds before taking the time to visit St Govans Chapel and the Green Bridge of Wales.
Barafundle Bay
Situated 2km down the coast from Broadhaven South, Barafundle is one of Pembrokeshire finest beaches.
The pristine sandy bay is backed by dunes and pine trees and is often voted as one of the best beaches in Britain.
The quickest and easiest way to reach Barafundle is via a half mile walk from the National Trust car park at Stackpole Quay.
Once you’ve stopped by this beach, I would take the time to walk along the cliffs to the neighbouring Broadhaven South, and then loop back through Bosherston Llily ponds. You can find all the information on that walk here.
Church Doors Cove
Surrounded by an amphitheatre of sandstone cliffs, Church doors cove is small rocky beach which is home to a dramatic door-like archway which has been cut into the headland by the forces of nature.
You can either watch the sunrise from down on the beach itself, where during certain times of the year you might be able to catch it poking between the archway, or from up on the cliffs above the beach.
At high tide the beach is pretty much non-existent, so make sure you check the tide times before heading here.
if the tides are right, once you’ve done snapping the sunrise you should make the effort to reach the neighbouring Skrinkle Haven.
The golden sanded beach is backed by steep cliffs and is only accessible at low tide. The only way to reach this beach is to climb through a second archway which has been cut into the headland opposite the church door.
Free parking is available in the large car park opposite YHA Manorbier and from there it is a short 5 minute walk down to the beach. Alternatively you can continue to drive past the YHA and park in the car park closer to the cliffs.
So there we have it, my five favourite locations to watch the sunrise in Pembrokeshire.
Like I have already mentioned, there are so many other beautiful places to watch the sunrise from across the National Park which I haven’t included on the list.
Remember that the time of year has a huge factor on which part of Pembrokeshire you should go to watch the sunrise, so bear that in mind before choosing a location.
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For more travel, hiking, & photography inspiration around Wales check out my in-depth guides to each of my favourite regions below.
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