Mumbles Head and Bracelet Bay
About
Round the corner from the pier the road climbs to Bracelet Bay, a small pebble-and-sand bay under limestone cliffs, and the view out to the two islands off Mumbles Head with the lighthouse on the outer one. The lighthouse was completed in 1794 and now runs on solar power. This is the place to understand the name: the two humps of the islands are what Mumbles is generally thought to be named after. The 1930s concrete apple kiosk by the car park is a local landmark in its own right. Then the warning that matters: the islands are reachable on foot only at low tide and the sea cuts them off fast. Swansea Coastguard has dealt with people stranded on them, and the Mumbles lifeboat goes out to them every year. Look at them from Bracelet Bay. Do not walk out.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓The lighthouse of 1794 on the outer island
- ✓The two islands the name is thought to come from
- ✓Rock pools and a pebble beach at Bracelet Bay
- ✓The 1930s Big Apple kiosk
Tips
- →Never walk out to the islands. The causeway floods quickly and people are rescued from them by the Mumbles lifeboat. If someone is in trouble, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.
- →Bracelet Bay car park is council pay and display; the 2A and 3A buses terminate at the bay.
- →The Lighthouse Bar & Kitchen is right above the beach if the weather turns.