One of the most popular coastal attractions in the region, Oxwich Bay (OS Map reference SS507862) combines the variety of wildlife found in a nature reserve with the appeal of a beach resort, and is an ideal location for a nature walk.
How long is it? It will take you between half an hour to an hour, although with plenty to see you could spend all day here.
What will I see? The area, a National Nature Reserve, is a haven for all sorts of wildlife, from birds to badgers and many insects - some of which are very rare. You'll also see some of the region's most interesting habitats up close.
When should I go? There's plenty to see year-round, though during Spring and Summer you can't fail to have a worthwhile day out - weather permitting. Check the tide times before you go - there's often something to see on the beach when the tide is out.
Easily accessible by a road which takes you directly to the beach, its variety of habitats, species, flora and fauna ensure that, regardless of what time of year you visit, there's plenty to see.
As a National Nature Reserve managed by the Countryside Council for Wales, it has one of the richest varieties of coastal habitats in Britain, and is a favourite location for bird-spotters. The combination of rocky and sandy shores, sloping headlands and cliffs, sand dunes and marshes support an exceptional variety of wildlife. Stretched between the villages of Nicholaston and Oxwich, the bay traps salt and freshwater marshes and lagoons, which drain to the sea at Nicholaston Pill.
This nature walk will take you from the beach, through the dunes along the border with the woodland and marshland, following the line of the coast, eventually back in a circle to meet the sea. A moderate circular walk with gentle slopes, it should take between half an hour to an hour.
Oxwich Bay originally extended to the bottom of the limestone hills that flank the area, but several thousand years ago the bay as we know it began to form when tidal forces created a barrier of sand dunes that stretched across the bay. The lagoon that lay behind was silted up by sand blown in from the beach, creating a salt marsh that remained subject in the most part only to natural forces until the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century. It was during this period that the intervention of man led to the creation of drained areas, ornamental lakes and freshwater marsh. One of the reserve's key characteristics is how, in its current form, it is very much the result of both natural processes and man's influence.
