Swansea Beach stretches for five miles along

Swansea Bay Swansea Bay ( cy, Bae Abertawe) is a bay on the southern coast of Wales. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tid ...

between the

Maritime Quarter The Maritime Quarter (including Swansea Marina) is a residential area of Swansea, Wales, UK located immediately south of the city centre shopping core. It falls within Swansea's Castle ward. The area is bounded by Brynmill to the west, Swan ...

and the "Knab Rock" near

Mumbles Mumbles ( cy, Mwmbwls) is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales. Toponym Mumbles has been noted for its unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by French sailors, ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is backed by a

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...

/cycle track (part of

National Cycle Route 4 Between these, the route runs through Reading, Bath, Bristol, Newport, Swansea and St David's. Within Wales, sections of the route follow branches of the Celtic Trail cycle route. Route The total length of the path is 443.6 miles and takes an ...

) and a coastal road. The southern section of the Swansea Bay beach between Blackpill and Mumbles is designated

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. Swansea Beach has a couple of named sections. The section of beach just outside Victoria park is known as "The Slip". Blackpill Beach is the section around the mouth of the Clyne River.

Tourism

In recent years,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

has provided a boost to the local economy. Swansea Bay itself was popular in Victorian times and in the early part of the 20th century. However, despite having

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s and golden sands over a large section of the Bay all the way from the mouth of the River Neath to Blackpill, with the exception of the Swansea Docks breakwater, it now rarely hosts more than a few hundred visitors on even the best day, even in the height of summer and has seen little of the tourist boom. Ironically in the last ten years or so, with the reduction in pollution (see below) has come an increase in the amount of sand on the lower stretches of the Bay at low tide which were once almost pure

mud flat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

s. The bay in Swansea previously had an abundance of sand but in the last century 300,000 tonnes of sand were removed from the beach and shipped to Blackpool which had a shortage of sand. In an attempt to popularise the Bay, in late February 2007,

Swansea Council , coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , logo_pic = Swansea City Council Logo.svg , logo_res = , logo_alt = , house_type = Unitary authority , jurisdiction = , foundation = 1 April 1996 , preceded_by = West Glamorgan County CouncilSw ...

announced plans for a major revamp of the entire Bay from The Slip all the way round to

Mumbles Pier The Grade II listed structure of Mumbles Pier is an long Victorian pleasure pier built in 1898. It is located at the south-western corner of Swansea Bay near the village of Mumbles, within the city and county of Swansea, Wales. History C ...

. These include new toilets at The Slip, further improvements to the St. Helens Ground, housing on part of the Recreation Ground, a new 'Extreme Sports' Centre at Sketty Lane, further improvements at the popular

Blackpill Blackpill (or Black Pill) is a suburban area of Swansea, Wales, beside Swansea Bay, about southwest of the city centre. Description Blackpill falls into the Mayals ward. The area is centred on a seafront building on Mumbles road, which onc ...

Lido including a new cycle and pedestrian bridge linking the coast path to the Clyne Valley Cycle Path, a

multi-story car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a buil ...

Quarry and mixed development at Oystermouth Square and improvements to the

.City & County of Swansea - Swansea Bay Strategy
/ref> There are children's play areas at

and the area near the Swansea city centre called "The Slip".

Notes

{{Swansea Swansea Bay Beaches of Swansea Coast of Swansea