Porth Iago
Photo via Wikimedia Commons — licence & author.
Perfect hidden cove
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 Porth Iago yet. Know it well? Help us get it right.
A tiny cove of white sand and turquoise water backed by green cliffs and facing due west — many people's pick for the loveliest small beach in Wales. Access is down through a farm (honesty box for parking), which keeps the crowds pleasantly thin. On calm days the swimming is sheltered and the snorkelling superb, and the sunset drops straight into the sea. Bring everything you need; there are no facilities.
Getting there
Porth Iago is in Llŷn, Llŷn Peninsula. It's roughly 16 min (4.6 miles) from Aberdaron , and within reach of Abersoch (24 min) and Nefyn (25 min).
The nearest parking: Ty Mawr farm clifftop parking field (£). Grid reference SH 204 333 — works on any OS map and doesn't need a phone signal.
Good to know
Honesty-box farm entry; sheltered swimming and superb snorkelling on calm days. Sunset straight into the sea.
On the map
View Porth Iago 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?
Aberdaron 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 Aberdaron ↗ opens Booking.com — needs signalNearby places
Make Porth Iago 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.