{"id":664177,"date":"2025-12-31T07:06:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T07:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/664177\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T07:06:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T07:06:24","slug":"north-wales-beach-with-notoriously-soft-sand-snares-vw-driven-though-lifeboat-gates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/664177\/","title":{"rendered":"North Wales beach with notoriously soft sand snares VW driven though lifeboat gates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cars are not permitted on the beach because of the likelihood they will become stranded in its soft sand<\/p>\n

15:12, 30 Dec 2025Updated 16:51, 30 Dec 2025<\/p>\n

\"AA seven-seater VW Tiguan Allspace became trapped in soft sand on Boxing Day(Image: Barmouth Publicity Association)<\/p>\n

A visiting family came to grief when they ignored warning signs and drove onto a Gwynedd<\/a> beach. Locals watched on in astonishment as the VW Tiguan was driven through lifeboat gates at Barmouth.<\/p>\n

The resort\u2019s beach is renowned for its expanse of soft sand that, even in the depth of winter, can snare the unwary. The car – originally registered in London \u2013 duly became trapped, leaving its head-scratching owners wondering what to do next.<\/p>\n

A photo was shared online with the tongue-in-cheek comment, \u201c(what happens) when you get your satnav from Temu\u201d. It prompted a flurry of head-shaking and \u201ccan\u2019t park there\u201d responses.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t educate stupid,\u201d said one local. Another added: \u201cIt\u2019s such a shame common sense isn\u2019t very common anymore.\u201d A third suggested it was the start of “the new season of Squid Games!\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Traeth y Graig Ddu (Black Rock Sands) up the coast near Porthmadog<\/a>, cars are not permitted to drive onto the beach. Of the two access points, the most obvious one is through beach gates that allow rapid egress for the town\u2019s lifeboats.<\/p>\n

Here, two signs warn vehicles not to drive onto the beach because of the likelihood of getting trapped. As the lifeboat station is adjacent to Barmouth\u2019s main beach car park, it was supposed the VW driver may have been trying to avoid parking charges.<\/p>\n

Unlike Traeth y Graig Ddu, which is notorious for catching out drivers<\/a>, Barmouth beach has suffered far fewer incidents. However, in April 2021 the RNLI issued warning after a Honda Civic hatchback had to be dragged from the sand. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"AA stranded Honda Civic was hauled off Barmouth beach in April 2021(Image: Christine Stevens)<\/p>\n

A few months later, a Peugeot hatchback was driven onto Barmouth\u2019s<\/a> harbour beach, with similar results. As this was within sight of \u201cDum Dum\u201d, the resort\u2019s carved Maoi Maoi figure, the brickbats were predictable.<\/p>\n

At the time, an RNLI spokesperson said: \u201cWe advise anyone visiting the coast to park responsibly and to avoid parking in sand where there\u2019s a danger for vehicles to get stuck.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways avoid parking near slipways or blocking areas that are used by the emergency services.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most notorious incidents of recent years involved a BMW driven by young lads attempting to perform doughnuts on the sand: it managed only one before becoming stuck.<\/p>\n

Locals remember it with fondness. \u201cIt was the most entertaining afternoon,\u201d said one man. \u201cThe amount of people that stopped to watch and laugh! They were very red faced being dragged off by a 4×4.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA Peugeot hatchback became stranded on Barmouth\u2019s harbour beach within sight of ‘Dum Dum’, the resort\u2019s carved wooden figure(Image: Barmouth Publicity Association)<\/p>\n

When the VW Tiguan got stuck on Boxing Day, some people wondered if it would be drowned by the incoming tide if not rescued in time. In reality, the tide probably wouldn\u2019t have come in far enough to reach the vehicle.<\/p>\n

A couple of truck drivers tried to help the stranded VW. It\u2019s thought that, as only its front wheels were stuck, the car was eventually dug out around an hour later.<\/p>\n

Still, some people imagined there are far worse places to get marooned. Online, a woman added: \u201cLovely sunny day for it \u2013 I suppose it was everyone else\u2019s fault but theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get all the latest Gwynedd news<\/a> by signing up to our newsletter – sent every Tuesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cars are not permitted on the beach because of the likelihood they will become stranded in its soft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[174915,748,4884,16708,166711,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-664177","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-barmouth","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-gwynedd","12":"tag-north-wales-beaches","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115812922214120464","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}