New
Quay
is one fortunate seaside resort with not just one beach but three beautiful
beaches and two harbours. New Quay, or Cei Newydd, is located on the
Ceredigion coastline between the towns of Aberaeron to the north and
Llangrannog and Aberporth to the south.
Originally a fishing village New Quay later developed as a shipbuilding centre,
reaching its peak in the middle of the 19th Century. In bygone days the
residents would hope to catch herring, mackerel,
crabs and lobsters, while today, although there is still a small fleet
of boats working from the harbour, the main source of income is tourism.
The beautiful location of New Quay has helped in no small way to make
New Quay a successful holiday resort, while the increasing interest in
wildlife and activity holidays also make New Quay a popular choice with
visitors. A walk along the harbour wall will usually be rewarded with
sightings of bottle nose dolphins. Indeed in my experience, and
probably the experience of the patient anglers who crowd the harbour
walls, the
dolphins are more common off New Quay harbour than the mackerel or the
bass!
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There is no doubt that the attractive harbour and golden sands of the
harbour beach are the centre of the resort. Most of the boats tooing
and throwing are leisure craft, but there is still a small number of
working boats that scour Cardigan Bay coastline for fish, lobsters and
other crusty crustaceans. Local fishmongers 
offer lobster, scallops and
a selection from the ever growing battalion of spider crabs. Restaurants
offer a wide variety of cooked sea foods, my wife Eira Wyn enjoyed a
delicious grilled mullet in the Hungry Trout restaurant, while I gorged
on baked halibut (well, maybe not "gorged" as although the
meal was very tasty it was more "nouvelle cuisine" than fish
and chips.)
That reminds me, there is an excellent fish and chip shop close to the
harbour serving traditional fish and chips and mushy peas (they don't
half fill the plates these days).
And as New Quay is renowned for it's association with Dylan
Thomas,
the famous Welsh poet and famous Welsh boozer, it is no surprise that
there is no shortage of pubs,..... public houses, Inns, hostelries depending
on where you come from. The more traditional pubs, the Dolau Inn, the
Black Lion, and the Sea Horse are on the Dylan Thomas Trail while the
Penwig Arms, a "gastro-pub" as my daughter calls it, offers great food,
great beer and a great view, all at a very reasonable price.
After all this eating and drinking a bit of exercise is called for,
and New Quay won't let you down in this respect. There are beautiful
coastal walks, indeed the newly opened Ceredigion Coastal Path cuts through
New Quay on it's way from Aberaeron in the north to Llangrannog and Aberporth
in the south. And if watersports is your thing then New Quay can offer
a wide variety of options, with sailing, canoeing, sea kayaking, surfing
and windsurfing all available from the small harbour beach close to the
Lifeboat Station (the proximity of the Lifeboat Station may seem
ominous, but better safe than sorry).
Once you have your sea legs there are boat trips available from the
harbour for wildlife and dolphin spotting. And the Marine Wildlife Centre,
again close to the harbour, offers dedicated boat trips to study the
wildlife of Cardigan Bay.
Young families are well catered for in New Quay with three glorious
safe beaches and miles of golden sands. There are plenty of traditional
bucket-and-spade / souvenir shops selling childrens' fishing nets, beach
balls, and er ...buckets and spades. And there is no shortage of ice
cream vendors around the harbour area. In the unlikely event that
it rains, although as we all know it never rains
in Wales, they even
have an amusement arcade at the top of Glanmor Terrace, but New Quay
is definitely not a Blackpool!
Much of the accommodation on offer in New Quay and vicinity is in caravan
parks and camping sites but should you prefer more homely luxuries
then there are a number of guesthouses and also a wide range of self
catering accommodation in holiday cottages and holiday bungalows. The
holiday cottages offer the freedom of the caravan parks plus all the
home comforts and can often be found in fantastic countryside locations.
