The harbour is the reason Saundersfoot exists. The Saundersfoot Railway and Harbour Company got permission from Parliament in 1829 to build it, and it opened to export anthracite from the pits around Stepaside, Kilgetty and Begelly, brought down by horse-drawn tramway. By 1837 there were five jetties loading coal, iron ore, pig iron and firebricks. The trade faded in the early twentieth century and the railway closed for good in 1939.
Today the harbour is a busy, pleasant place full of small boats, with the beach running off to the south. Fishing trips, mackerel trips and sea safaris to the seals around Caldey leave from here in summer.