Walk 13: Caswell Bay to Oxwich Bay

Our ‘first’ walk on the Gower Peninsula was actually our second walk on the Gower Peninsula. I decided to tackle the Gower Peninsula in four walks over two weekend trips. When planning these walks, working on the basis that, where possible, it’s always safer to get transportation to the beginning of a walk rather than chancing it at the end, the most convenient and risk-free plan seemed to be to park in Swansea for the weekend and take the bus to Rhossili, before walking in a different direction each weekend to take us to Caswell Bay and Loughor respectively, where we would then take a taxi back to our car in Swansea. Simple(ish)!

So, we actually walked this one ‘backwards’ – from Oxwich Bay to Caswell Bay – and this was the second walk on our first weekend in the Gower!

We had spent the previous night in a pod at Oxwich Bay Hotel, so began the day by packing up our rucksacks and enjoying a lovely hotel breakfast before setting off. Rather than heading onto the beautiful sandy beach, which we had enjoyed views of over breakfast (and which is great for a swim during the summer months!), we walked along the road and around the beach to a path above the dunes.

With views of the dunes to our right, we walked along the path for a short while, before we found ourselves on the beach just south of Nicholaston Woods, crossing a bridge which took us over Oxwich Marsh. We continued along grassland and dunes through Nicholaston Burrows, which was nice enough walking, but quite warm, as we were walking on a sunny June day.

The path then took us into some woodland, where we had a bit of an ascent to take us onto the cliff. It was nice to be out of the sun, but we were troubled by flies, who, much to our frustration, seemed keen to dine on us for their lunch. We soon found our way to the clifftop, where we continued along the path, enjoying stunning views of Oxwich Bay Beach. As with many beaches on the Gower Peninsula, this is a wonderful, sandy beach, and, particularly due to the fact we’d forgotten to bring sun cream and were starting to get a bit burned, the sea looked incredibly inviting!

We enjoyed these beautiful beach views all the way to Three Cliffs Bay, which was also looking tempting in the sunshine. When we reached Three Cliffs Bay, we descended onto the beach, where we crossed some steppingstones which took us over Pennard Pill. These aren’t accessible during high tide, so it’s important to check your tide times before you go (but more on me not checking tide times later!).

Next, we had to get back up onto the cliff on the other side of Three Cliffs Bay, which, for us, was easier said than done! First, we followed the path up towards Pennard Castle, but after a little while, I realised that we were a bit of a way away from the path (and sometimes when we lose our way, it’s a bit of a case of ‘so close and yet so far’ when it comes to finding our way back). After trying a couple of different directions, we decided to head back down to the beach and see if we could find the right path. We finally found what appeared to resemble a path which would take us up the cliff. In hindsight, this was definitely not the right way, but it did get us back on track!

We followed this steep path up the sand dune – at times, it was so steep I was practically crawling, and it was incredibly tiring work! Thankfully, it did get us up the cliff and we didn’t have to turn back and attempt the hairy descent! Once we reached the top, we found a bench in the perfect spot to admire Three Cliffs Bay and take a much-deserved break!

After a brief stop, we continued to walk along the clifftop path, and soon reached West Cliff, where we grabbed a baguette for lunch and topped up our water supplies. We did have to walk past a few cows at West Cliff, who seemed to have free roam around the path and car park, but they were very relaxed and obviously used to people, so we weren’t concerned.

We walked along the road, with some lovely houses with stunning coastal views to our left, all the way to Hunts Farm, before continuing along the path past Pwlldu Bay. At this point, we could see Caswell Bay, the end point of our walk.

As we continued along the path, we spotted a sign for the high-tide route. At this point, I hadn’t checked the tides and we’d already booked a taxi to pick us up from Caswell Bay, thinking we were about half an hour away from our end point, so I decided to chance the low-tide route – we were so close to the end of our walk – surely we could get to Caswell Bay?!

However, when we walked through the gate at Brandy Cove, it became apparent that the tide was indeed too high to get around to Caswell Bay. Reluctant to turn back and take the high tide route, we scrambled along some stones and reached a hotel with very clear signs indicating that the route up was private. I’m a stickler for the rules, and really didn’t want to trespass, but when we asked somebody who was coming out of the hotel whether they knew which way we should be going, they told us we could walk up the path from the hotel car park and that it would take us straight to the main road, so we decided that this was our only option. Thankfully, the road then took us straight down to Caswell Bay with a few minutes to spare!

We took the taxi back to our car and enjoyed a tasty dinner at Swansea Bay Pop-Up before driving home after a beautiful first weekend on the Gower. Unfortunately, as we had foolishly forgotten to bring sun cream, we spent the next week being punished with some quite painful sunburn – lesson well and truly learned!

🥾 Distance: About 9 miles.

⭐ Highlight: The beautiful views.

👎 Less Good: The sunburn!

🚗 Transport: We had parked in Swansea and got the bus to Rhossili, and had walked to Oxwich Bay the previous day. We walked back to Caswell Bay and took a taxi back to our car.

🛏️ Accommodation: We stayed at Oxwich Bay Hotel the night before, and returned home after our walk.

🌱 Food: We had a delicious dinner at Swansea Bay Pop-Up.

🗺️ Map: This route is featured in the official Carmarthen Bay and Gower guide.

Still not convinced? Read my ten reasons to walk the Wales Coast Path. If you’re ready to start planning your walk, you can find lots of resources to help you on your way here. Please note, I collect a share of the sales from the links on this page.