The Blue Flag Award beach is a safe, sandy beach with soft sand, ideal for sunbathing and sandcastles. Sheltered by the harbour wall and cliffs, it is one of Ceredigion's most popular beaches.
Harbour beach is the base for the Cardigan Bay Watersports Centre activity, and also provides mooring for local and visiting sailing boats. The annual New Quay regatta takes place on the beach, on and in the water each August, as well as the annual New Year's Day swim after a race across the beach to be first in the water.
The smaller Dolau beach lies below low cliffs on the other side of the harbour wall. It has pebbles, rocks and sand that is a little coarser. Dogs are welcome on Dolau beach at any time of the year.
Smooth ramps, which become sandier as they get closer to the shore, make access to both beaches easy.
New Quay's other beach - Traeth Gwyn (or Llanina beach) is much wilder, and popular with dog walkers who can enjoy a bracing romp along the beach at any time of the year. It extends in a broad sweep towards Llanina point for almost a mile from the boulder strewn stream that divides it from the Harbour beach. At low tide it is a wide sandy beach, backed by shingle and boulders, but at high water it can become cut off.
Beyond Llanina Point lies Cei Bach beach. This is a sand and shingle beach, divided by groynes. The Coast Path passes through the wooded slope above. The beach is open to dogs throughout the year.
