This is a large, commercial site, on the beach at Dinas Dinlle on the Llyn Peninsula just south of Caernarfon and its small airport, home to the Air Ambulance and Coastguard helicopters. It is part of the Thornley Leisure Parks company who have sites across North Wales, Cheshire, and Yorkshire. Please see our Site Arrival video.
The site is completely level and made up of 214 static mobile homes; 176 touring pitches, the majority of which are hard standing and there are also fully serviced pitches available. There is a small area for tents/trailer tents. It should be noted that at the time of my visit, around 80% of the tourer pitches were taken up by seasonal pitches which were unoccupied for most of my stay here, apart from weekends when it was remarkably busy for a couple of nights. Of course, my stay was outside of the main school holidays. The site grounds and facilities are very well cared for, and grounds maintenance is of a particularly high standard.
The beach at Dinas Dinlle is several miles long, the nearest section of the beach being of pebbles and stones – this is part of the ongoing battle to keep the sea at bay during high tides. The cafes and takeaways are here as well. During the summer months, dogs are not allowed on this section of the beach – it is patrolled regularly by a warden. The further away section, which is mainly sand – dogs are allowed in certain areas. There are no facilities near this section of beach. At the far end is the airport, www.caernarfonairport.com there is a café/restaurant here with parking but is not close to the beach.
There are superb views of the Snowdon Mountain range and as I will outline later, it is ideally situated for visiting a good range of places including Yns Mon, (Anglesey).
Facilities
The site has one facilities block for the touring area comprising the usual facilities and a disabled wet room for guests in both male and female blocks. There is also a family washroom with walk in shower. Laundry and dishwashing rooms complete the block and an elan waste disposal point.
The touring area has a small play area which is situated in the centre of one of the caravan fields, two small goalposts and a couple of picnic benches complete the offer. In fairness the beach is no more than 10 minutes level walk away.
The reception area is for booking in or static caravan issues only, there is no food or supplies available. The nearest convenience store is a small one on the beach front which also comprises a takeaway and café with seating outside.
There are a number of water taps throughout the site in the touring area.
There is a small swimming pool on site, but it is undergoing refurbishment and due to COVID regulations, the engineers are unable to complete the work at the present time. There is a small basic gym next door to the pool which was working at the time of my visit.
At the rear of the reception is a bar and entertainments area – I am informed that during high season, there is usually some low-key entertainment on offer. There are plenty of outdoor seats available as well.
Review of Site Pitch
I had opted for a super pitch which offered me water, grey waste disposal on the pitch. The pitch was wide enough to take a standard width caravan and a full awning, car had to be parked along the front of the pitch but was clear of the road. The pitch was mostly level and comprised hardcore covered by chipped slate which was quite pleasant and easier to hammer in awning pegs than some sites I have visited previously.
Wi-Fi comes as part of the package and was superb, allowing me to complete anything on the computer I needed. Yes, it slowed down a little at busy weekends but not excessively so. I was suitably impressed with this given the remote location in terms of proximity to large towns etc.
TV signal was more than adequate, and no booster cable was required.
Mobile signal, depending on provider was good to particularly good, 4G had average speeds.
Due to the level nature of the site, the touring area is broken up into small field areas, delineated by fabricated grass covered banks. These are a haven for wildlife but also serve a particularly important job in breaking up the wind which blows off the sea through the area. It does, of course, allow for a certain amount of privacy on your pitch.
Around and about
As is often the case with these reviews, the very nature of tourer parks and their location are such that they are situated in areas which have much to offer, according to personal taste, budget etc. I will provide a few highlights as a starting point within a reasonable area of the site.
The nearest large town is Caernarfon, famous for its World Heritage Status Castle, town walls, Victoria Dock and one end of the Welsh Highland Railway travelling all the way to Porthmadog . There are a few cafes with outdoor seating available and a good car/motorhome carpark in the shadow of the castle. Toilets, including disabled access are at the entrance to the carpark. At the time of my visit, we were still to come completely out of lockdown due to COVID, but it was good to see cafes reopening and plenty of outdoor seating was available. Unfortunately, the shops in the high street have not fared as well – many empty shops and what is remaining is not particularly good. This, of course, is the same across the UK and time will tell if they return. There is a Morrison supermarket, with fuel, on the main road into the town and this is where most of the food shopping is available. There is also a Tesco supermarket on the road the other side of Caernarfon on the way to the site, this does not have fuel.
Inland, there are plenty of little towns and villages in this traditional Welsh speaking area. Llanberis, Lake Padarn and its little railway around the lake, www.llanberis.com/lakerailway.html and the Snowdon Mountain Railway, are within an hour’s drive.
Two other places to note – you are about 40 minutes car drive from Anglesey, (Yns Mon) and all that has to offer. www.visitanglesey.co.uk is a good starting point to plan your visit. There is the famous National Trust property at Plas Newydd which is just over the Menai Bridge. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/plas-newydd-house-and-garden
The final place is Bangor, Gwynedd – home to an historic university, renowned for its study of all things oceanic amongst others. www.visitsnowdonia.info/bangor There is a lovely Victorian Pier stretching out into the Menai Straits with a café at the very end – lovely coffees and cake were on offer at the time of my visit. www.bangorpier.org There is a small charge for parking and entrance to the pier, both well worth the money. At the time of writing, the parking and entrance machines do not accept card payment, the local Council officials who happened to be there that day said it was hoped they would be changed very soon. Dogs are allowed on leads which was good to see. There is a car park at the entrance to the pier, toilets are available but was unable to check to see if there was disabled access. There are toilets at the end of the pier as part of the café, this has level access. Please note it can get very windy on the pier, so although it may seem very warm at the entrance, it can be considerably cooler by the time you get to the end! The town centre has, as before, fallen victim to current situation and an ever growing out of town shopping centre with a large Tesco, Halfords, and very much cheaper fuel available.
Bangor is also the nearest National Railway station to the site. www.tfwrail.wales/stations/bangor-gwynedd
Bangor also boasts a beautiful National Trust property – Penrhyn Castle, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/penrhyn-castle on the outskirts and a good part of a day can be spent there including the gardens.
Summary
This is a site which I first visited some 30 plus years ago when it was a much smaller affair than it is today. It is probably some 15 years since I last visited and again, there have been considerable changes in the site and in particular, the emphasis has changed from an even split between static and purely touring pitches to what I have described above. This is not a complaint, but an observation and it is up to the reader to decide if this is what they are looking for. The site is very family focussed, the swimming pool and the proximity of the beach is a big plus point.