Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay – Bae Ceredigion – located along the west coast of Wales is the second largest bay in the British Isles covering an area of around one thousand, six hundred square miles.
The bay’s nautical limits are located between Bardsey Island in the north and Stumble Head in the south and is enclosed between the Llyn Peninsula to it’s north and the rocky headland at Pencaer to it’s south.
The bay, which is officially an arm of the Irish Sea, incorporates the six hundred square mile Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation, the sixty mile long Ceredigion Coastal Path and some coastal regions of the Pembrokeshire National Park and the Snowdonia National Park. This ensures that the waters of the bay are a haven for wildlife where visitors can see Bottlenose Dolphins, Harbour Purpoise and Atlantic Grey Seals as well as large colonies of Puffins, Spider Crabs and sometimes even Minke Whales.
The bay is also surrounded by several award winning beaches, picturesque fishing ports and popular holiday resorts including Abersoch, Aberwystwyth, Aberaeron, Barmouth, Borth, Criccieth, Fishguard, New Quay, Portmadog and Cardigan, the ancient market town after which the bay was named.
Towns of note located along the bay include Aberporth, renowned for it’s former RAF base, Met Office station and QinetiQ Missile Range, the harbour town of Fishguard with it’s nearby ferry terminal which provides regular sailings to Rosslare in Ireland, Aberwrystwyth a world famous university town and renowned holiday resort famous for it’s Victorian cliff railway and for being the home of the National Library of Wales, the ancient town of Harlech renowned for it’s thirteenth century World Heritage Site castle, the unique, Italianate style town of Portmeirion located on the picturesque Afon Dwyrd Estuary and the picture postcard fishing village of Aberaeron, famous for it's colourful fisherman's cottages located along it's seafront.
The bay is also overlooked by three other castle sites located in the towns of Aberystwyth, Cardigan and Criccieth.
The bay is fed by several rivers including the Afon Aeron, Afon Dyfi, Afon Dysynni, Afon Dwyrd, Afon Glaslyn, Afon Mawddach, Afon Rheidol and Wales’ second longest river, the seventy three mile long River Teifi, whose vast estuary is located outside the market town of Cardigan.
The bay is served by just four lighthouses, the Bardsey Island Lighthouse and St Tudwalls Lighthouse located at it’s northern approach and the Strumble Head Lighthouse and South Bishop Lighthouse located at it’s southern approach.
The bay is home to several small islands and rocky outcrops, the most famous of which are Bardsey Island and the two St Tudwall Islands, all three of which are situated off the Llyn Peninsula at the north of the bay.
SOME WEBSITES YOU MAY FIND OF INTEREST
LIKE THIS? Show Your Friends - Tweet
