June 2016 and Poppit Sands regains Blue Flag status.
Poppit Sands lies at the mouth of the river Teifi and is a large sandy beach with plenty of space and rarely gets very busy even in the summer.
At high tide there is still plenty of sand for everyone, at low tide it almost looks like you can walk across to Gwbert. If there’s not been much rain, then the river can be quite narrow. However, lack of rain isn’t something that you associate that often with Wales
Poppit Sands the start of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path which takes you right around the coast to Amroth. Incredibly the signage for the start is really poor, at you walk up road to start on the path and not down the track that leads to the cottages. On a hot weekend day, I would imagine we get one lost walker an hour. Some signage please Parks!!
The Blue Flag beach award is considered the best standard for beaches. Its is awarded by the Foundation for Environmental Education. While most visitors are aware that Blue Flag guarantees the quality of bathing water it also takes into account the facilities at the beach..
Poppit Sands has a large car park all but on the beach, Café selling beach essentials, (food, spades and ice creams), toilets and RNLI lifeguards in the summer.
Wales now has 44 beaches and 3 marinas with a Blue Flag award. That is 4 more than last year.
Other awards for beaches in Wales include the Green Coast Award and the Seaside Award which give visitors confidence in the standards at those beaches.