Dale is a small village on the peninsula that forms the north side of the entrance to the Milford Haven. It faces east into a sheltered bay, which makes it the local centre for sailing and windsurfing, with a Blue Flag beach in front of the houses. The name is Old Norse for valley, and the area has been English-speaking since the twelfth century, part of the "Little England beyond Wales".
History passed through here more than once. Henry Tudor landed at Mill Bay, near the tip of the Dale peninsula, in 1485 on his way to Bosworth and the throne. In 1996 the tanker Sea Empress ran aground at the mouth of the Haven and spilled 72,000 tonnes of crude oil. The view across the water to the refinery and terminals of Milford Haven is a reminder that this is a working waterway.
Dale is also the nearest village to the best of the Marloes peninsula. The road west through Marloes ends at Martin's Haven, where boats leave for Skomer, the puffin island, and where the National Trust's Deer Park looks out over Jack Sound. On the south side of the peninsula is Marloes Sands, one of the finest beaches in Wales. A loop round the Dale peninsula itself takes in St Ann's Head and its lighthouse.
There is very little public transport; a seasonal coastal bus, the Puffin Shuttle, runs round the peninsulas in summer. Come in late spring for the puffins, or late August and September when grey seals pup on the beaches.