Pentraeth to City Dulas (12 miles)

 

The guide books suggest Pentraeth to Moelfre, then Moelfre to Amlwch Port, but this is quite unequal in mileage. We decided instead to walk to City Dulas, where again the path joins the road on a bus route, and the split a bit better. Having parked up in a lay-by there, we took the 62 bus to Pentraeth and walked down to the shore, adding a mile to the total walked.

Despite salt marsh at the higher reaches of Red Wharf Bay, the path from Pentraeth manages to avoid most of it, with a hard stone section on the north side as far as Porth Llongdy Uchaf, then up behind houses.  We arrived at the Ship Inn just as it was opening at mid-day, and stopped for a sandwich. It seemed busy as soon as it was open.

The path goes on towards Benllech, going to an inordinate effort to skirt St David's caravan park, then twisting and turning through former limestone quarries before joining the sea front at Benllech. Here we stopped at the Wendon cafe for an ice cream.

Beyond Benllech the path climbs from the shore to walk near the edge of low cliffs, often well vegetated on either side. Here, and indeed all the way to Lligwy, the path is well worn and obviously heavily used, probably because it joins so many caravan sites to the beaches and other facilities. It was high tide when we got to Traeth Bychan, so we definitely didn't follow the possible low tide route along the beach.

As we approached Moelfre, a path diversion caused by a landslip (but which  apparently has been in force since 2021) took us away from the shore to walk along village roads, adding a short distance.  

We stopped at Ann's Pantry for coffee and cake. This could have been the end point of the day's stage, had we followed the guide books, but on our plan, we were only just past halfway, with a commitment to reach the car in Dulas, and needed some reviving.

After Moelfre, it is still something of  clifftop walk, passing the Lifeboat House, then the Royal Charter Memorial, and descending to Lligwy beach with a short and well-marked stretch through sand. Here we left the Anglesey limestone coast, the geology changing to a heavily dipped reddish rock.

Traeth yr Ora is indeed a "beautifully secluded sandy cove", and here we left the coast as the path travels inland a short way, taking us to the Pilot Boat where we had a well-deserved meal.

We were fortunate with weather - forecast showers hardly materialising, and better visibility than last time: Carneddau were often in view and from Moelfre we could see over to the Clwydian range. This is a popular part of the path which is well-blessed in services (public toilets open in Red Wharf Bay, Benllech and Traeth Bychan, despite this being March) and places to eat, of which there would be more in summer.