It’s not often you see a waterfall that cascades directly onto a beach and Tresaith Waterfall will not disappoint, well not unless you go during a dry spell - more on that later!
As well as being an impressive sight, it’s also really easy to reach and located on a pretty beach. The dramatic high cliff walls give the scene a wild feel.
Here’s how to find the Tresaith Waterfall, plus tips for your visit.
The walk to Tresaith Beach Waterfall
The stats
Distance: 600m (0.4 miles) each way
Elevation gain: 55m
Difficulty: Easy
Summary: The walk to Tresaith Waterfall involves descending several staircases (easy on the way down!) after which point it’s pretty much flat. There is a short section of rock hopping to cross over from the main beach to the smaller beach where the waterfall is located.
If you’re visiting at low tide you can just about get around on the sand without rock hopping, but even just one hour after low tide, which was when we visited, you couldn’t get round with dry feet - although as it’s a beach you could just take your shoes off!
A note on tides
It’s best to visit Tresaith Waterfall a few hours either side of low tide. You can still visit on a higher tide, but you won’t be able to explore the cove as much because we could see from the moss on the rocks that the tide comes very close to the waterfall.
At low tide you can walk along the sand to reach the waterfall, avoiding any need to rock hop. We visited around an hour after low tide and you could still easily get round with shoes off, but you couldn’t get round with dry feet.
As the tide continues to rise, this route would be cut off and you have to use the rocks (which is still easy enough, as it’s a very short section of rock hopping).
You can check the tides for Tresaith Beach here.
Where to park for the Tresaith Beach Waterfall
Tresaith Beach is located near the town of Cardigan (just under 9 miles away). Though it’s technically located in Ceredigion, it’s also very close to Pembrokeshire, which is where we visited from.
The closest car park to Tresaith Beach is located 300m up the hill from the beach, you can find it here on Google Maps, postcode: SA43 2JL.
It’s a smallish car park, but there were a decent amount of spaces still available when we visited in the middle of the day in July. The car parks costs £2 a day and is payable via the honesty box, so don’t forget your coins.
If you want to visit by public transport you can get the T5 bus from Cardigan that stops at Banc y Dyffryn, which is about a mile away from Tresaith.
The walk to Tresaith Waterfall
From the car park, head right along the road and you’ll see a set of stairs leading downhill after 120m. It’s a well maintained staircase, so it’s easy to get down, just a bit of a puff on the way back up!
The stairs last for 180m and then you’ll head along the road for less than a minute before accessing the beach.
You’ll come out on the main part of the beach and head right for 150m. You won’t see the waterfall yet as it’s located on the next cove along.
After a 150m easy stroll along the sand you’ll come to the rock slab. If it’s low tide you can walk around it, or if not you simply cross over it.
The first bit is quite flat and not in the least bit slippery when dry. It takes less than a minute before you have to climb down a couple of rocks, which are more uneven and there is some water and moss on the rocks even on a dry day.
This bit could be slippery, but it’s just a few steps and you’re down.
You then have a little bit of beach to cross before you’re standing at the foot of the waterfall. Between the start of the rocks and the foot of the falls it’s just 100m, so from the car park that’s around 550m.
It took us 10 minutes at a leisurely pace, stopping for photos etc.
Tresaith Waterfall
The first thing you should know about the waterfall is that it’s best visited after some decent rainfall!
We visited after a few weeks of mixed weather, which definitely included a fair bit of rain, but the flow of the falls was still quite low. The more rain the better for this spot.
Despite the low flow, the waterfall was still impressive, partly because of the height and luminous green moss covered rocks, but also because of the setting.
The cliffs here are stunning and really give the beach a dramatic feel. The sand is not the best in Pembrokeshire by any means, but the overall setting is gorgeous.
The water was pretty wavy, so we saw more people bodyboarding than we did swimming.
Beyond the waterfall
You can walk for another 110m along the beach before reaching a rocky area. These rocks are covered in a light dusting of sand, which makes it much more slippery than the bit between the main beach and the waterfall. It’s leads to another cove.
Before that you’ll walk past the amazing cliff walls and there are a couple of little openings and some colourful stripy rocks.
One of the openings doesn’t go anywhere, but one is a tiny tunnel that kids would no doubt love, especially as you can’t really follow them! It’s not long and leads to a dead end.
I believe all of this section of beach is best visited a few hours either side of low tide. Although I haven’t seen it in high tide, it looks like the water comes fairly high up the beach.
Facilities at Tresaith Beach
Just before the main beach you’ll pass a toilet block which also has a water refill station. To the right of this is a little kiosk with a few tables and chairs outside, which have a lovely sea view.
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep the beach pristine.
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