From this part of the path there are great views of the various forts and of the body of the Milford Haven Waterway. This is part of the Pembrokeshire Marine Special Area of Conservation (mSAC), a wetland of international importance.

It is home to one of the most diverse estuarine communities in the UK. In spring and summer the peaceful embankments and rivers provide breeding habitats and crèche sites for a multitude of birds.

Following the Sea Empress disaster in 1996 when 72,000 tonnes of crude oil was released into the mouth of the Milford Haven Waterway, there was great concern about the impact on the flora and fauna of the area.

Clean-up operations have been deemed to be largely successful with populations suffering from the initial impact of the oil but recovering in subsequent years.

Along the coastal path, the main habitat is coastal scrub which is characterised by the presence of gorse, bracken, blackthorn and hawthorn.

You can spot white throats which like to nest along here, as well as robins, dunnocks, stonechats, linnets, thrushes and blackbirds. Spring flowers include cowslips, primroses and bluebells, and in the summer, red campion.

Between the coast and Stack Rock Fort there is big bed of merle, a calcareous red seaweed that grows in a free nodule and lattice structure. Merle grows phenomenally slowly and is very long lived.

A number of merle beds have been dated, using radio carbon dating, indicating that often these reefs are at least 1000 years old. The Merle also provides an important habitat for specialist red algae.