Porth Neigwl, also known in English as "Hell's Mouth", is a broad bay, about 3 miles (5 km) wide, on the south coast of the

Llŷn Peninsula The Llŷn Peninsula ( cy, Penrhyn Llŷn or , ) extends into the Irish Sea from North West Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the historic county of Caernarfonshire, and historic region and local authority area of Gwynedd. Mu ...

in North

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The bay faces south-west and lies between the headlands of

Mynydd Rhiw Aberdaron is a community, electoral ward and former fishing village at the western tip of the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It lies west of Pwllheli and south west of Caernarfon, and has a population of 965. The community inc ...

to the west and Mynydd Cilan to the east. These craggy headlands have cliffs descending to the sea, and Porth Neigwl is said to be like a broad open mouth in the

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

of south Llŷn. The name "Hell's mouth" was given for that reason and because of its danger to sailors in times of storm, with great waves and a lack of shelter. The long, straight beach stretches for about 4 miles (7 km) between the two headlands. Behind the beach are grassy dunes which form a notable sea-marsh. The River Soch briefly runs parallel to the shore before turning inland near

Llanengan Llanengan ( Welsh for " St. Einion's") is a small village and community around Abersoch in Gwynedd in north-west Wales. It had a population of 2,024 at the 2001 census, which had been reduced to 1,989 at the 2011 Census. The popular seaside re ...

(the only nearby village) towards

Abersoch Abersoch is a village in the community of Llanengan in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a popular coastal seaside resort, with around 800 residents, on the east-facing south coast of the Llŷn Peninsula at the southern terminus of the A499. It is about ...

. There is a campground at Tai-morfa near Llanengan. The big waves make it a popular resort for surfing and

sailboarding Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

. The area is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

References

{{coord, 52.810, -4.560, display=title Beaches of Gwynedd Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Gwynedd