Sunset over Whitesands

Sunset over, Whitesands
One of the most popular beaches in Pembrokeshire, Whitesands is a large west-facing expanse of sand in a magnificent setting, with views of Ramsey Island and several smaller islets. Carn Llidi mountain which towers over the landscape has some of the best views with fantastic sunsets. Hidden on the mountain are some old farm houses crafted in the landscape to hide from the sea winds.

Whitesands Bay is a Blue Flag beach situated on the St David's peninsula in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and has been described as the best surfing beach in Pembrokeshire. The bay is overlooked by Carn Llidi. The 594 feet rocky hill stands in a prominent and isolated position dominating the landscape in a prominent and isolated position dominating Whitesands Bay. On clear days, there are views west towards Ramsey Island and the Bishops and Clerks islets, and north towards Strumble Head, on clear evenings in mid-summer at sunset, glimpses of the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland can be seen.

The area is rich in archaeology with two burial chambers, presumed to be neolithic and are located on the higher southwest slopes of the hill and another stone nearby may be the capstone of a megalithic chamber. Prehistoric enclosures and field systems are located to the northwest of the hill near to an iron-age defensive wall.
During World War II, a concrete structure with a Lewis Gun was positioned pointing out to sea with a Chain Home Low early-warning radar system. Ideally situated overlooking the headland and an ideal location to warn the Brawdy Airport and Army Base. On June 1943, a Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber of the 335th Bombardment Group of the US Air Force crashed into Carn Llidi killing all four crew members in poor weather on a flight from North Africa to Cornwall. A memorial incorporating one of the twisted propeller blades is located in the Whitesands Bay car park.

The Pembrokeshire Coast Path provides access to secluded bays of Porthlleuog and Porthmelgan. To the south, the coastal path leads to Porthselau and St. Justinian's, with views of Ramsey Island and a number of megalithic burial chambers, stone hut circles and Iron Age field systems and enclosures are in the vicinity of Carn Llidi and St Davids Head.
The site of a Celtic chapel, dedicated to St Patrick, is located under a mound by the car park just to the east of the bay, at what is thought to have been the disembarkation point for pilgrims to St Davids Cathedral. St David may have been educated at Ty Gwyn, the white farmhouse that overlooks the beach, by St Paulinus, and St Non, David's mother, may have lived here when it was a monastery. The burial ground was in use from the 8th to the11th centuries, and remains have been removed by Dyfed Archaeological Trust to the National Museum of Wales to preserve them from coastal erosion.