Cemlyn Bay
Photo via Wikimedia Commons — licence & author.
Shingle ridge & Arctic tern colony
This is a quick reference, not a full walked guide. The facts below — location, parking, grid reference and access — are maintained from our dataset, but we haven't published our own first-hand write-up of Cemlyn Bay yet. Know it well? Help us get it right.
A perfect curve of storm-piled shingle enclosing a brackish lagoon where thousands of Sandwich and Arctic terns nest between May and July — one of Britain's great seabird spectacles, managed as a nature reserve by the North Wales Wildlife Trust. Bring binoculars in tern season and keep to the paths, respecting the roped-off nesting areas. Even in winter it's wild, empty and lovely. Free.
Getting there
Cemlyn Bay is in North Anglesey, Anglesey (Ynys Môn). It's roughly 27 min (8.7 miles) from Holyhead , and within reach of Trearddur Bay (31 min) and Benllech (39 min).
The nearest parking: NT car parks at Bryn Aber / Traeth Cemlyn. Grid reference SH 332 934 — works on any OS map and doesn't need a phone signal.
Good to know
Bring binoculars in tern season; respect roped nesting areas. Wild, empty and lovely even in winter.
🌟 Best time: Thousands of Sandwich & Arctic terns at the lagoon — around May–July.
On the map
View Cemlyn Bay on OpenStreetMap ↗, or open it in the Explore Wales trip planner to add it to a day out with drive times and offline maps.
Staying over?
Holyhead makes a relaxed base for exploring the area — worth staying over to catch an early start or a golden-hour finish.
Browse places to stay near Holyhead ↗ opens Booking.com — needs signalNearby places
Make Cemlyn Bay part of a day out
Add it to a trip in the free Explore Wales planner — chained drive times, weather, campsite suggestions, and offline maps for when the signal drops.