Ogmore By Sea Beach — Attraction in St. Bride's Major

A favourite stop of mine for years.

There's a beautiful walk along the coast from Ogmore to Southerndown with beaches and rock pools along the way.

The beach is massive when the tide is out (beware the potential for a rip tide near the river) and the beach is a gentle decline into the sea for quite some way. At night, on a clear night with the tide fresh out, you get the feeling you're walking among the stars as the reflection of the stars shines off the wet sand.

When the weather isn't great, the walk is still lovely and the sea can be very dramatic. Be careful and respect the sea, but it is awesome at times when rough.

Parking is a little on the expensive side and the local authority there is always keen to grab what money it can, whether from tickets or fines. The toilets are OK, not spotless but OK.

There's often options for refreshments and light snacks in the car park ranging from icecream through tea and coffee to pulled pork and burgers. Not cheap.

Try and approach the car park from the west if you can as the entrance from the east involves a very nasty turn. The roads in the car park are smooth but narrow with large rocks close enough to scratch your car if you're not careful.

When all the parking spaces are full people have historically parked on the grass with no punishment but be careful, I've seen cars stuck on grassy mounds unable to move because all four wheels are raised off the ground.

Also, beware of dogs. I'm not sure if this is the case all year around, but there are a lot of dogs on this dog friendly beach. Nice if you have a dog but frustrating if you don't since many dog owners don't seem to know or care where...

Ogmore By Sea straddles the Welsh Jurassic Coast between Portcawl and Southerndown, at the mouth of the Ogmore river. There is a very large pay and display car park running parallel to the pebble and sand beach, with rocky fossil filled ourcrops punctuating the tide line. The geology here is fascinating, and for those more active visitors the surf can be quite large and excellent for surfers of all capabilities. The village above the car park has very, very little by way of any retail or facilities, with just one or two small shops, but no pub or restaurant. This gets extremely busy during summer season, and despite its vast size the car park regularly gets absolutely crammed full due to the popularity of the area with locals and visitors alike. Ogmore castle is situated on the main approach road. and this Norman example is worth the 100 yd detour for a better look. All in all a great place for a day out, but remember there are no pubs, eateries nearby, and wgen the sun shines, its sure to get...

Great beach to take the kids too, when the sea is in it is mainly pebbles but still fun. Lovely views and plenty to find, such as fossils, caves, rock pools and all sorts of animals. Just be careful of all the sheep if your driving 🐑 There is a ice cream van that tends to be there when the weather is warmer. Also a place to buy warmer drinks such as tea was there the other day, so that's something to look out for aswell. There are public toilets that are available for most of the day including a disabled radar key toilet, the disabled toilet seems to be available to use all night while the other toilets seem to shut at around 7pm. Parking before 4pm is £6 for the day, after 4pm it is £3. There are plenty of spaces to park but it can get crowded with cars on a hot day. Ogmore by sea also seems to be a good place to surf, we have seen many surfers going here. If you are looking to eat out, there are a couple of local places to eat that are just a...