Swansea Beach stretches for five miles along Swansea Bay

Swansea Bay

Swansea Bay is a bay on the Bristol Channel on the South Wales coast. Places on the bay include Mumbles, Swansea and Port Talbot. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan and Blackpill stream flow into the bay....

 between the Maritime Quarter

Maritime Quarter

The Maritime Quarter, or Swansea Marina, is a residential area of Swansea, Wales, UK located immediately south of the city centre shopping core. It falls within Swansea's Castle ward...

 and the "Knab Rock" near Mumbles

Mumbles

Mumbles or The Mumbles is an area and community in Swansea, Wales which takes its name from the adjacent headland stretching into Swansea Bay...

. It is backed by a promenade/cycle track (part of National Cycle Route 4) and a coastal road. The southern section of the Swansea Bay beach between Blackpill and Mumbles is designated Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

.

Swansea Beach has a couple of named sections. The section of beach just outside Victoria park is known as "The Slip". Blackpill Beach is the section around the mouth of the Clyne River.

Tourism

In recent years, tourism

Tourism in Wales

Wales is an emerging tourist destination, with 8,078,900 visitors to National Trust and Welsh Tourist Board destinations in 2002. The industry has been estimated to have an annual turnover of £3.5 billion....

 has provided a boost to the local economy. Swansea Bay itself was popular in Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 times and in the early part of the 20th century. However, despite having dune

Dune

In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...

s and golden sands over a large section of the Bay all the way from the mouth of the River Neath to Blackpill, with the exception of the Swansea Docks

Swansea docks

Swansea Docks is the collective name for several docks in Swansea, Wales. The Swansea docks are located immediately south east of Swansea city centre. In the mid-19th century the port was exporting 60% of the world's copper from factories situated in the Tawe valley...

 breakwater, it now rarely hosts more than a few hundred visitors on even the best day, even in the height of summer and has seen little of the tourist boom. Ironically in the last ten years or so, with the reduction in pollution (see below) has come an increase in the amount of sand on the lower stretches of the Bay at low tide which were once almost pure mud flats.

In an attempt to popularise the Bay, in late February 2007, Swansea Council announced plans for a major revamp of the entire Bay from The Slip all the way round to Mumbles Pier

Mumbles Pier

The Mumbles Pier is an long Victorian pier built in 1898. It is located at the south-eastern corner of Swansea Bay near the village of Mumbles within the city and county of Swansea, Wales.-Construction:...

. These include new toilets at The Slip, further improvements to the St. Helens Ground, housing on part of the Recreation Ground, a new 'Extreme Sports' Centre at Sketty Lane, further improvements at the popular Blackpill

Blackpill

Blackpill is a suburban area of Swansea, Wales. It is located beside Swansea Bay, about south west of the city centre.Blackpill falls into the Mayals ward....

 Lido including a new cycle and pedestrian bridge linking the coast path to the Clyne Valley Cycle Path, a multi-story car park at Mumbles

Mumbles

Mumbles or The Mumbles is an area and community in Swansea, Wales which takes its name from the adjacent headland stretching into Swansea Bay...

 Quarry and mixed development at Oystermouth

Oystermouth

Oystermouth is an electoral ward and a village in the Mumbles community and also the City and County of Swansea, Wales...

 Square and improvements to the Mumbles Pier

Mumbles Pier

The Mumbles Pier is an long Victorian pier built in 1898. It is located at the south-eastern corner of Swansea Bay near the village of Mumbles within the city and county of Swansea, Wales.-Construction:...

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There are children's play areas at Blackpill

Blackpill

Blackpill is a suburban area of Swansea, Wales. It is located beside Swansea Bay, about south west of the city centre.Blackpill falls into the Mayals ward....

and the area near the Swansea city centre called "The Slip".