Freshwater East
Freshwater East is known locally as Fresh East, just as the similarly named Freshwater West is called Fresh West. Freshwater East is a sheltered bay to the south of Lamphey in south west of The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It has a broad, wide, sandy beach that is dune backed in the middle and has some sheltered rocky sections on the east side. The car park is at the west end where there’s a slipway for launching boats. It tends to be a bit stony at this end.
Picture: Freshwater East beach
Behind the beach is Trewent Park holiday park. There’s an excellent restaurant cafe here called The Long House. The chalets are all privately owned but quite a few are available to rent as self catering accommodation and are listed elsewhere on this web site. The steep hill between the old village of Freshwater East and the beach is dotted with dozens of chalets, some more substantial than others. The Caravan Club have a touring caravan site close to the beach. It’s extremely popular and booked up a long time in advance. The nearest Hotel is in Lamphey but there is a good guesthouse at Portclew House. The village pub, The Freshwater Inn, has panoramic views of the beach.
Picture: Freshwater East beach
There’s an activity centre operating here called Fresh Adventure. They’re part of TYF adventure that operate from St Davids. They offer coasteering, kayaking and surfing amongst other activities.
On the hill with panoramic views over the beach is The Freshwater Inn. They serve meals at lunchtime and in the evening.
Picture: The Freshwater Inn at Freshwater East
Nearby is the National Trust owned Stackpole estate and arguably the two best beaches in Pembrokeshire: Barafundle and Broad Haven South.
The Coast Path in either direction is a delight. Walk east to remote Swanlake Bay and on to Manorbier. The red sandstone cliffs here are quite striking.
Picture: Swanlake Bay at low tide
Walk west to Stackpole Quay with its wonderful café and then carry on to Baradundle Beach.
Picture: Barafundle Bay
Barafundle is one of the most loved of all Pembrokeshire beaches, partly because of the super soft golden sand and partly because of the idyllic setting, but the thing that makes it so special is you can only get to it along The Coast Path from Stackpole. The relative isolation has kept Barafundle unspoilt.
Beach Awards
Freshwater East beach and Barafundle beach have Green Coast Awards and Seaside Awards. The green coast award is similar to a Blue Flag Award but for rural beaches. Blue flag status requires a extensive facilities such as lifeguards, dog controls and refreshment facilities as well as the highest level of water quality. Rural beaches like Freshwater East have the same level of water quality but because of their rural location, don't have many of the facilities on the shore. The beaches are just as good but they aren't spoilt by unsightly development.