Red Wharf Bay

Red Wharf Bay (Traeth Coch — 'red beach' in Welsh) is not a beach in the conventional sense. At high tide, the water reaches almost to the road; at low tide it retreats to reveal one of the largest expanses of flat sand in Wales — four miles of tidal flats where oystercatchers and curlews pick across the mud, sanderlings run ahead of the waves, and the light at dusk turns the bay into something extraordinary: gold, then bronze, then mauve. It is one of the best places in North Wales to photograph a sunset.

The Ship Inn sits right above the high-water mark and has been doing so since the 18th century — it once supplied passing ships, which is remarkable given how shallow the bay is. The pub is now a comfortable, unhurried place to eat after a beach walk; the fish and chips are reliably good and the garden looks straight out over the bay.

This is a beach for walking and watching rather than swimming: the tidal currents over the flats can be dangerous, the gradient is almost flat for a long way out, and the water is never more than waist-deep in most of the bay. Birdwatchers will find it consistently rewarding year-round — bar-tailed godwits in autumn, Brent geese in winter, breeding oystercatchers and lapwings in spring.

The village itself is tiny — a few houses, the pub, and a small car park — but the surrounding coast is excellent walking country. The Coastal Path runs east toward Penmon and the Puffin Island views; west connects to Benllech in about 2 miles.