Welcome to another post in our ‘review’ series.
Today, I am looking at a pub off the beaten track, but one which I would suggest you add to your list: Sailors’ Safety. I say ‘today’, but this review is summarising my experiences over a couple of visits – one at lunch on 31st December 2025 (so, New Year’s Eve – but at lunch) and one at lunch a couple of weeks ago when we returned with some friends. It was a game of two halves, which I will explain below…
Sailors’ Safety is a hidden gem of a pub near Pwllgwaelod Beach in Pembrokeshire, just a short drive from Newport. The old smuggler’s pub dates back to 1593 and has gone through a number of incarnations over the many years that we have been visiting Newport, but is now under the stewardship of Llys Meddyg and it is rapidly earning a reputation for great food in an intimate setting.
As far as I can tell, there is no official Sailors’ Safety website, but you can keep up to speed with what they are up to and salivate over the photos of delicious food on their Facebook page or their Instagram page. You can book a table online here.
As I write this, the pub is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I am not sure if that is a winter thing and it is open every day in the summer season, but it would be worth checking ahead to make sure it is open. I would personally recommend booking a table to make sure you are not disappointed.
How to get to Sailors’ Safety
This is a pub that you are unlikely to stumble upon, unless you are a keen walker and doing the Dinas Head loop, as you will find it at the bottom of the headland. You can walk there from Newport, but it is quite a hike (lots of ups and downs!) and I would suggest holding back on the beers for the walk home!
It is right next to Pwllgwaelod Beach, so a really lovely setting and I imagine that it would be truly glorious to watch the sun go down on a balmy summer evening. There is a mobile sauna on the beach, which could add an extra layer to the experience…
Although out of the way, it is easy to find. From the A487 going through Dinas, turn off by The Ship Aground pub and follow signs to ‘Pwllgwaelod’. You then need to stay on that road and follow it until it arrives at Pwllgwaelod Beach.
There is a car park right by the pub but, be warned, this can be busy. As I alluded to, our experience of Sailors’ Safety was a game of two halves and trying to park when we went on New Year’s Eve was a total nightmare. The car park is not just for the pub and you are sharing it with walkers. As mentioned in my Christmas round up, it was very busy with walkers over the festive period and the result for the Pwllgwaelod Beach car park was carnage.
It is not fair to blame Sailors’ Safety for this, but it is definitely something to bear in mind if it is peak season as there really isn’t anywhere else to park as the road heading down to the beach is narrow and steep. When we went a couple of weeks ago, the car park was less than a quarter full and it was super easy.
The venue
Once you get there and (hopefully) park, you will see the pub nestled by the beach. It is an unassuming, but quaint, building that conjures up visions of smugglers warming up on a stormy winter’s day:
There is a garden which overlooks the beach which, as I mentioned, would be a lovely place to be in the evening:
As you enter the pub, you will find yourself in a really welcoming bar area, seen here in festive mode:
Maybe I am just odd, or it is a result of usually having a dog with me, but I always tend to prefer the bar areas (I feel the same way about the Castle Inn) where you have a choice, but you do have a choice at Sailors’ Safety as there is also a more formal restaurant area that enjoys a great view over the garden and beach:
It is a really welcoming / happy space and not ‘formal’ in a stuffy sense – I think it is mainly the fact that dogs are to be kept in the bar area, which makes sense.
One word of warning – if you are booking a table for two in the bar area in a very busy period, I would suggest avoiding the table that sits right by the entrance to the restaurant area. That is where I sat on New Year’s Eve and, to be honest, it was a bit of a nightmare with our dog as the gap isn’t huge and it was *really* busy with people coming and going or waiting to be seated in the restaurant.
Definitely only a problem for that one table at super busy periods, but it wasn’t great having a queue of people standing right next to your table when you were eating the (delicious) food. This was definitely a major contributing factor to my ‘game of two halves’ comment as we sat on a different table when we went last time and it was an entirely different experience with loads of space. The short story : ask not to be seated at that particular table if it is busy.
The food at Sailors’ Safety
There is a great range of drinks to choose from whilst you mull over the menu. Although there seem to be some consistent classics, the menu is definitely seasonal and you can expect different choices on each visit. Seafood is definitely a strength, but there are other options if you don’t like seafood. This was our menu on New Year’s Eve:
It isn’t what I would call ‘cheap’, nor is it super expensive. More importantly, I think it is superb quality food (see photos below) and I have enjoyed everything that I have tried across our two visits.
On our first visit, I had the mussels and Otto had the burger. On our second visit, Ali and I shared three of the ‘Small Plates’ along with some staggeringly good truffle and parmesan fries. All the dishes were absolutely delicious but my personal recommendation would be to go for the small plates as you get to experience more tastes.
Here are some photos of our food (click on the photos to see a bigger version):
As always, I am not sure if the photos do the food justice, but it is really good. The ingredients are all fresh and cooked to perfection, which is a simple formula that so many places get wrong!
The portions are not enormous, but definitely more than enough to leave you feeling extremely satisfied. I am pretty greedy but was definitely not wanting for more on either occasion.
In a nutshell, you can tell the influence that Llys Meddyg has had on the pub – it is definitely a gastro pub rather than a local boozer. That is not to say that I wouldn’t pop in for a pint, but you would definitely be missing out if you choose not to enjoy any of the amazing options on the menu.
Should you go to Sailors’ Safety?
This is another easy one. You should definitely factor in a visit to Sailors’ Safety when staying in the Newport area and want to eat / drink in a friendly atmosphere. It really does deserve its growing reputation.
Personally, I am going to avoid super busy times as I definitely preferred our second visit but that was simply a logistics issue – the food was superb on both occasions. I was just grumpy after a stressful parking experience 🙂
We will definitely be back and I am looking forward to trying out an evening in the garden, hopefully enjoying an amazing Pembrokeshire sunset.
