The Most Northerly Hunt in Wales
- Rating: Good Beach
- Terrain: Easy
- Level: Beginner- Intermediate
- Dog friendly: Seasonal (dogs on leads on promenade 1 May–30 September; Traeth Bach unrestricted all year)
- Location: Cemaes, Anglesey, North Wales Sat Nav: LL67 0LT (main car park, Traeth Mawr)
- Common colours: Green, brown, white
- Rare colours: Turquoise, Cobalt Blue, Black
Best For:
- Beginners
- Aqua sea glass hunting
- Harbour-wall searching
- Rock pool exploring
- Post-storm hunting
- Families
- Mixed terrain beachcombing
- Relaxed low-tide hunts
Why Cemaes Bay- sea glass at the top of Wales
Cemaes is the most northerly village in Wales. It sits on the north Anglesey coast, facing directly into the Irish Sea, tucked between two headlands that give it a sheltered natural harbour and a character entirely its own. The name itself, Cemaes, is Welsh and most likely refers to the shape of the bay itself, a bend, a curve of sheltered water that has drawn people to this spot for as long as anyone has needed somewhere to tie a boat.
Most visitors come for the harbour, the rock pools, the views across to the Menai Strait, and the mountains of Snowdonia, sitting blue on the horizon. What brings sea glass hunters here is something different: a beach that has been quietly producing finds for decades, fed by centuries of maritime activity from one of the busiest stretches of coast in medieval Wales.
There are two beaches at Cemaes. Traeth Mawr, the big beach, is the wide, sandy arc where the family holiday photographs are taken. Traeth Bach, the little beach, is on the western side of the harbour, rockier, quieter, and the one that sea glass hunters want. It’s a mixture of sand and shingle with rock pools at low tide, and it’s the shingle sections and the ground around the harbour walls that hold the glass.
Reports from hunters who visit regularly describe consistent finds of green, brown, white and aqua, the aquas in particular standing out, bright against the grey of the pebbles. Visitors describe finding loads of beach glass on a single visit, dogs included. That is a Good Beach.
Cemaes rewards patience and timing over volume. This is not Seaham. But if you are making your way around the north Anglesey coast, and you should be, because it is exceptional walking country, then Cemaes Traeth Bach deserves a low-tide stop. Combine it with the coastal path east to the Porth Wen brickworks ruins, and you have one of the more atmospheric half-days in North Wales, sea glass or otherwise.
What you’ll find here
Colours commonly found: Green, brown, white, aqua
Occasional finds: Blue, Aqua, Amber, sea pottery
Rare finds: Turquoise, Cobalt Blue, Black
Bonus: Victorian pottery shards, fragments of stoneware, crab shells and rockpool life at low tide, the occasional smooth piece of local quartzite worn to a near-glass finish
When to go
Low tide is when Traeth Bach opens up properly. At high water, the beach is compact and limited; as the tide drops, the shingle areas around the harbour wall and the rocky margins of the little beach become accessible, and that is where the glass concentrates. Give yourself two hours either side of low water, work the harbour side first, then the open shingle.
Spring tides around new and full moon push the water back further than usual and expose ground that rarely sees a hunter. This is when the best finds happen at Cemaes, the outer rock pools and the lower shingle, only accessible on a big low.
The north-facing aspect matters. Cemaes looks directly out into the Irish Sea, and westerly and northwesterly weather is onshore here. After a blow, the kind of November or January storm that batters the north Anglesey coast, the strandline is freshly worked, and new material is up on the beach.
Post-storm visits in autumn and winter are consistently the most productive. In summer the beach is busier, finds are more picked-over, and the seasonal restrictions on Traeth Mawr mean the overall experience is better off-season.
Winter on the north Anglesey coast is properly exposed and properly beautiful. The light here in January, the sea running in from the northwest, Trigger charging along the tide edge, while you work the harbour shingle, that is exactly what this site is for.
Today’s tide times & Sea Glass Score
Cemaes Bay sits on the north coast of Anglesey, facing northwest into the Irish Sea, with a spring tidal range of around 4 to 4.5 metres, modest by the standards of South Wales, but enough to expose a useful section of foreshore as the tide drops, including the productive shingle margins and lower rock pool areas of Traeth Bach that are covered at high water.
The harbour location provides some shelter from the worst of the swell, but the northwest-facing aspect means westerly and northwesterly winds push glass up onto the beach rather than taking it away.
The widget below uses Cemaes Bay tide data (UKHO station), the standard port, to show today’s Sea Glass Score, tide curve and best hunting window. Aim to arrive at Traeth Bach around ninety minutes before low water and work the shingle and harbour walls as the foreshore opens, the outer rock pool margins are last to expose, and often the least-picked section.
Where to look on the beach
Traeth Bach is the smaller, rockier beach on the west side of the harbour. Cross the bridge over the River Wygyr from the main car park, and it is directly ahead of you. This is your primary hunting ground.
The harbour wall shingle and the pebble and shingle deposits alongside and below the harbour wall hold the most consistent finds. Work slowly along the base of the wall, checking the pockets where glass accumulates between stones. The transition between sand and shingle is always worth attention. Pieces roll down from coarser material and settle where the substrate changes.
The rock pools at low tide, Traeth Bach, have a good spread of rock pools that open up on the lower foreshore as the tide retreats. Crouch down and look into the crevices rather than scanning from above. Glass accumulates in the gaps and can sit undisturbed between tides. The aqua pieces that Cemaes is known for tend to sit well in rock pool environments, where their colour stands out against darker stone.
The strandline after westerly weather after a significant blow from the northwest, walk the full strandline from the harbour to the far end of the beach. Freshly deposited material from the previous tide sits along the high-water line and is usually the easiest picking.
Traeth Mawr at the far end beyond the harbour, dogs are restricted on part of this beach in summer, but the section beyond the harbour at the far east end is accessible all year. Worth a look on a big low tide, particularly the ground near the harbour entrance, where boat traffic has been concentrated for centuries.
At Cemaes, focus on change: where sand meets shingle, where harbour wall meets beach, and where rock pools interrupt the foreshore. The best glass usually settles where the beach structure shifts rather than across open uniform sand.
Key Tip:
At Cemaes, focus on change: where sand meets shingle, where harbour wall meets beach, and where rock pools interrupt the foreshore. The best glass usually settles where the beach structure shifts rather than across open uniform sand.
Difficulty Level
Beginner → Intermediate
Cemaes is approachable but still interesting.
Why:
- easy-access sandy areas
- obvious harbour structure
- productive rock pools at low tide
- varied terrain without being overly technical
A very good:
“learn how beaches sort glass”
…kind of location.
Hunting Style
“Mixed Harbour + Rock Pool Hunting”
Meaning:
- start broad at strandline
- move into detailed pool searching
- finish around harbour wall pockets
Quite a balanced beach overall.
Dog friendly?
Traeth Bach, the small beach, is dog-friendly all year round. Traeth Mawr, the big beach, restricts dogs on part of the beach from May to September, but the far end beyond the harbour remains accessible to dogs all year. At Cemaes Bay, dogs must be kept on their leads on the promenade during the restriction period, 1 May to 30 September. Outside those months, your dog has the full run of both beaches.
In practice, for a hunting visit, Traeth Bach is the destination anyway, and that is unrestricted year-round. Lead on the promenade in summer to get there, then off on the beach itself. The village is genuinely dog-friendly, and the Stag pub and the Harbour Hotel are both worth knowing about for a post-hunt drink with a wet dog. Check our Yappy Places listing for Cemaes for the full picture.
Practical information
Parking: The main Traeth Mawr car park is open year-round with easy beach and promenade access. There is a small free car park at the far end of Traeth Bach, and a free public car park just off the High Street.
The Traeth Mawr car park charges apply in season -current rates around £2 for all day, free after 4pm on some days and discounted for blue badge holders. Arrive early in summer; the village is popular, and the harbour car park fills quickly on fine days.
Toilets: Toilets in the main Traeth Mawr car park area. Public toilets also on the village High Street next to Oriel Cemaes Gallery. Facilities are basic but present better than many comparable beaches on the north Anglesey coast.
Food and drink: The village has a good spread of options for its size. The beach kiosk at the main car park does drinks, snacks and pizza on summer evenings and is right on the seafront. The Stag pub and the Harbour Hotel are both dog-friendly, and the village has a convenience store for essentials. The chippy operates roughly 4–8 pm and is straightforwardly decent.
Getting there without a car: Cemaes has no rail station. The nearest is Holyhead, around twelve miles away. Bus services run from Holyhead and Amlwch. Check Arriva Trains Wales and local operators for current timetables. Cycling is viable along quiet Anglesey roads; the Anglesey Coastal Path passes through the village if you are on a longer route.
Accessibility: The main beach at Traeth Mawr is an easy, flat promenade, with level beach access and disabled parking spaces in the car park. Traeth Bach involves crossing the bridge over the River Wygyr and walking a short distance along a narrower path to the beach; the beach itself is reasonably flat, but the shingle sections are uneven underfoot.
What to bring
- Sturdy shoes or wellies – the shingle and rock pool sections of Traeth Bach are uneven and wet at low tide; the harbour wall area can be slippery
- A bag or container for finds – glass at Cemaes tends to be varied and includes some well-tumbled older pieces worth bringing home
- A hand rake for working the shingle pockets around the harbour wall and lower beach
- Layers and a windproof – north Anglesey faces the Irish Sea directly, and the wind is real, even on days that look calm from the car
- A tide table, the difference between a good visit and an unproductive one here is almost entirely about timing the low tide window correctly
- A lead for the promenade section in summer, Traeth Bach is unrestricted, but getting there from the main car park involves walking.
The history behind the glass
Cemaes has been a port since long before anyone was writing things down. The village was a commotal seat and administrative centre for the Prince of Wales before the invasion of Edward I in 1282, and a Welsh prince is recorded as having issued an official act at Cemaes as early as 1238. The bay was known in medieval Welsh as Porth Wygyr- the port of the River Wygyr, and it was one of the most important harbours on the north Anglesey coast for centuries.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Cemaes Bay became a prosperous harbour, with ships transporting bricks, grain, lime, ochre, marble and limestone outward, and importing flour and coal for a rural community that could not supply everything it needed. Local men were employed in shipbuilding in the 1830s, constructing vessels of 100 to 400 tonnes in a harbour ideally sheltered for the work. This was a proper working port, not a romantic fishing village postcard, but a place of commercial industry with constant boat traffic, cargo handling and all the breakage and domestic waste that came with it.
The fishing history layers on top of all of this. Cemaes Bay was an ancient fishing village known for its salted herring. Between the end of the 18th and beginning of the 20th century, the village was noted for producing salted herring, as well as bricks from a nearby works served by a narrow gauge tramway down to the sea. Generations of fishing families living and working on this harbour edge, centuries of provisions, spirits, medicine bottles and domestic glass entering the water and the foreshore.
Then there is the industrial story just along the coast. The Porth Wen brickworks are visible as dramatic ruined beehive kilns on the clifftop, a short walk east of Cemaes along the coastal path, operated from the 1870s until 1949, producing silica firebricks from local quartzite for lining the steel furnaces of Victorian Britain, shipping finished bricks out by sea from a small quay directly below the kilns.
Every working industrial site with a harbour generates glass workers’ provisions, bottles, jars, and the Porth Wen quay was active for the better part of a century. That material has been washing westward along the north Anglesey coast ever since.
And beyond Porth Wen, the Parys Mountain copper mine at Amlwch, once the largest copper mine in the world, transforming a quiet fishing village into a hive of 18th and 19th century industry, drove a whole coastal economy from Amlwch to Cemaes and beyond. This was not a remote backwater. The north Anglesey coast was one of the busiest and most industrial stretches of sea in Wales for two centuries, and Cemaes sat squarely in the middle of it.
The glass on Traeth Bach is the accumulated residue of all of those medieval princes, herring fishers, Victorian shipbuilders, brick kilns and copper ports. Not all of it is perfectly tumbled. Some pieces are older and smoother than others. But all of it has a genuine story, and this particular corner of Wales has more history per metre of coastline than almost anywhere else on the Irish Sea.
From beach to jewellery
Found something worth keeping on the Cemaes shingle? At Mermaid Tears, every piece starts exactly where you’re standing. Seaglass is hand-hunted from UK beaches and handmade into something worth keeping. The aquas from Anglesey are some of the most striking pieces to work with. Browse the collection.
⚠️ Disclaimer: Tide times, dog restrictions, parking charges and beach conditions change regularly. Always verify before visiting. Anglesey’s seasonal dog restrictions are reviewed annually. Always check the current rules with Anglesey County Council before visiting with a dog. The beach byelaws distinguish between Traeth Bach and Traeth Mawr; check the specific restrictions for each section.
Last updated: May 2026
Frequently asked questions
Is Cemaes Bay good for sea glass? Yes – consistently so for a beach of its size. Traeth Bach, the smaller beach on the west side of the harbour, is the main hunting ground. The shingle sections and rock pool areas around the harbour wall produce regular finds of green, brown, white and aqua glass, with occasional rarer colours. It rewards patience and good tide timing more than sheer volume. Work the shingle carefully at low water rather than a quick scan, and you’ll come away with something worth keeping.
Which beach at Cemaes Bay is best for sea glass? Traeth Bach- the small beach on the west side of the harbour, accessed by crossing the bridge over the River Wygyr. It’s rockier and less sandy than the main beach, which is exactly what you want. The shingle pockets and rock pool margins concentrate glass in a way that open sandy beaches don’t.
Are dogs allowed at Cemaes Bay? Traeth Bach is unrestricted all year – Your dog is welcome every month. On Traeth Mawr, the main beach, dogs are restricted on part of the beach from 1 May to 30 September and must be kept on leads on the promenade during those months. The far end of Traeth Mawr, beyond the harbour, remains accessible to dogs all year. Always check the current byelaws with Anglesey County Council before visiting, as restrictions are reviewed annually.
When is the best time to visit Cemaes Bay for sea glass? Low tide, ideally on a spring tide around new or full moon, and preferably the day after westerly or northwesterly weather. Winter and early spring are the best seasons; the beach is quieter, storms are more frequent, and the north-facing aspect means rough Irish Sea weather does the sorting work for you.
Is Cemaes Bay worth visiting beyond the sea glass? Absolutely. It’s one of the most characterful small villages on the Anglesey coast, a proper working harbour, two beaches, good food, and some of the best coastal walking on the island. The Anglesey Coastal Path, east toward the ruins of the Porth Wen brickworks, takes you past dramatic cliffs and the ghost of a Victorian industrial landscape. Even an empty bag is a good outcome here.
Can I walk from Cemaes Bay along the coastal path? Yes – the Anglesey Coastal Path runs through the village in both directions. East toward Porth Wen brickworks and Bull Bay is around two to three miles of excellent clifftop walking. West toward Cemlyn Lagoon and the nature reserve is quieter still. Both directions are dog-friendly outside the village itself.
