Just before you reach the 'city' of St Davids, there’s a small turning by the visitor centre which morphs into a single-track lane and stops at a small car park where the ground suddenly stops, quickly dropping down in a bundle of rocks and heather, a crash of sea spray and a shriek of circling gulls. It’s a good spot for your first lingering look at the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast, a designated National Park covering 240 square miles around the southwestern shore of Wales. From here you can see both sides of the coast’s character, from the gentle semicircle of Caerfai Bay – a small sandy beach that invites exploration of its rockpools and caves – while off to the right are the cliffs, intimidating and inspiring both in size and in structure. Handily enough, it's also an access point for the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path; and even more usefully, it's the site of the Caerfai Bay campsite.
Not to be confused with Caerfai Farm on the left side of the lane, Caerfai Bay is a more structured, organised sort of place, where they've made quite an investment in spotless facilities. There are two tent fields, but you have to negotiate tarmac drives with speed bumps and pass through a field of static caravans to get there. Not everyone’s cuppa and neither are the rules that come with the facilities. But once you’re tucked up in your own tent, surveying the stunning panoramic views of the coastline, with the knowledge that you can have a free hot shower whenever you want one, you’ll be glad you pitched up.
