Motor Boat & Yachting – May 2018

The award-winning Tŷ

Coch Inn overlooks the

beach at Porthdinllaen

CONWY BAY

Less than 30 miles WSW of the Mersey entrance buoys, Great

Ormes Head juts out from Llandudno to form the east arm of

Conwy Bay. Here, a buoyed channel leads east and then south to

Conwy Quays Marina, on the west bank of a picturesque drying

estuary with a backdrop of sheltering hills. The marina entrance is

just beyond an expanse of dunes and Conwy golf course. A second

marina, Deganwy Quays, is over on the east bank. The stunning

towers and massive walls of Conwy Castle command the scene

further upstream.

Conwy Quays Marina has a delightful setting and is conveniently

placed for both weekend and further-afi eld cruising. Less than fi ve

miles WNW of its outer buoys lies Puffi n Island and the north

entrance to the Menai Strait, a fascinating 18-mile channel

between Anglesey and the Welsh mainland.

MENAI STRAIT

This dramatic stretch of water has been an active boating centre

since at least the early 1800s. The Royal Anglesey Yacht Club at

Pilot’s Cove is a wonderful sandy spot

in quiet or northerly weather, looking

down towards the Llţn Peninsula

The anchorage at Pilot’s

Cove is nicely sheltered

in fi ne weather

Pilot’s Cove off

Llanddwyn Island is

another idyllic spot

The narrow Menai

Straits are best

enjoyed at slack tide

Mark and Elaine Beeston
Boat Ocean Drive, Sunseeker Manhattan
52 Berth Conwy Quays Marina

Mark and Elaine live in Cheshire and
it’s an easy run to Conwy all year round.
Ocean Drive is a comfortable, powerful
boat with two Volvo Penta D11-725s.
At weekends, Mark and Elaine often
meander through the Menai Strait to
peaceful anchorages off Anglesey, or
down the Llŷn Peninsula to an idyllic
beach at Porthdinllaen. Sometimes
they continue round to Pwllheli,
a spacious marina inside a curving
sandy promontory. Pwllheli Bay has
superb views towards Snowdonia.
Mark also cruises east to Liverpool
and is a fan of the city marina and
waterfront restaurants round the

redeveloped docks. For Irish trips, he

and Elaine like crossing to Malahide,

just north of Dublin, a friendly marina

up a sleepy rural river. Malahide is 55

miles from Holyhead on Anglesey’s

west side. The Beestons are also fond

of the new Greystones Harbour, south

of Dublin Bay near the Wicklow Hills.

CONWY LOCALS

TRAVEL