ALL the beaches in the Cardigan area bar one have been classified as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ in the Welsh Government’s 2018 annual bathing water statistics.

Only New Quay North was classified as ‘sufficient’ – the same rating as the previous year.

All 104 designated bathing waters in Wales met the European classifications for bathing water quality this year, with none being classified as ‘poor’. A total of 78 bathing waters achieved the highest classification of ‘excellent’, 21 were classified as ‘good’ and five as ‘sufficient’.

Beaches classed as excellent in the Cardigan area were: Poppit West, Mwnt, Tresaith, Llangrannog, Cilborth, New Quay Harbour.

Those classified as good were: Newport North, Aberporth, Penbryn, New Quay Traeth Gwyn (up from sufficient last year).

Bathing waters are sampled regularly during the official bathing season, between 15 May to 30 September, and classified as either excellent, good, sufficient or poor. The classifications go on display at the start of the following year’s bathing season.

Wales has more Blue Flag beaches per mile than anywhere else in Britain and Visit Wales is investing in infrastructure to help beaches attain Blue Flag status.

Visit Wales is also supporting projects with organisations like Keep Wales Tidy and Surfers Against Sewage to promote responsible, sustainable tourism and the need to protect coastal assets and abundant wildlife.

Environment Minister Hannah Blythyn, said: “2018 is Wales’ Year of the Sea, so I’m pleased to see all bathing waters in Wales meeting the water quality standards, with most areas again achieving an ‘excellent’ rating. This is an achievement worth celebrating.

“Wales has a beautiful coastline and I want to see our bathing waters continue to meet the highest standards we’ve become accustomed to.”