Population in 1901 was 1,466. While the centre of the town is the sea-front, including Aberdovey's yatch club, the pier and the beach, the town itself stretches some way back from the coast and up the hillside, meaning a steep walk or drive. The town lies in the midst of typical Welsh coast scenery (steep green hills and sheep farms), 4 miles from Towyn, on the North bank of the Dyfi estuary, commanding views of Snowdon, Cader Idris, Arran Mawddy and Plynllmmon. The Dyfi, here a mile broad, is crossed by a ferry to Borth sands, whence a road leads to Aberystwyth.
Aberdovey is still a popular tourist centre, with many returning holidaymakers, especially from the metropolitan areas of the English West Midlands, less than 100 miles east of the town. Popular activities, apart from spending time on the beach, include many watersports, such as windsurfing and sailing on the sea and canoeing on the estuary.
The village was immortalised by the folk song, The Bells of Aberdovey (in Welsh, Clychau Aberdyfi). The song refers to the legend of a submerged former kingdom under Cardigan Bay (Seithennin, the drunkard, having created the bay itself), and its bells which can, they say, be heard ringing beneath the water. The composer is unknown, but the words were written by John Ceiriog Hughes, during the 19th century. The same legend also inspired a Victorian novel, The Misfortunes of Elphin (1829) by Thomas Love Peacock.