Beaches around Tintagel in North Cornwall

Trebarwith at low tide

Trebarwith Strand is the beach that Park Farm overlooks. It's a sandy surf beach with rocky outcrops and has been awarded the European "Blue Flag" Award for cleanliness and bathing water quality. There are a couple of shops and cafés and the Port William pub up on the cliff overlooking the beach. It is a lifeguard-patrolled beach so it's quite a good place to go with children in the Summer. Also in Summer you can hire surf gear or have surf lessons with Trebarwith Surf School. There are spectacular views from the coast path behind Trebarwith, and in a winter storm the scene can be truly awesome with waves sometimes breaking right over the top of the headland. For directions and more information including the best places along the beach to swim, snorkel or fish see our Trebarwith Strand page.

Backways Cove

Backways is a rocky cove close to Trebarwith Strand; looking out from Park Farm it's the V shape to the left. It's always quiet as few tourists know about it and it's a reasonable walk to get to. It is great for swimming and snorkelling on a calm summer day as there are lots of interesting shaped areas of rock in the water created by a combination of quarrying and erosion from the sea which you can either explore with mask and snorkel or just swim between and sunbathe on. In Spring and Autumn, look out for peregrine falcons swooping over the cliffs which nest nearby. In the winter, Backways is dramatic in a big storm with sea foam and spray from the stream blowing back up the valley and mini tornadoes of foam forming beneath the cliffs. For more information and directions see our page on Backways Cove.

Tintagel Haven

Below the the island that Tintagel Castle perches on is a small sheltered pebble beach which is good spot for a swim or snorkel (there are kelp beds with plenty of marine life and grey seals are often around). On the left side of the beach, Merlin's Cave goes all the way beneath the island and out the other side. For more information see our page on Tintagel Haven.

Bossiney Haven

This is a secluded cove close to Tintagel which is a lovely place to swim or paddle on a warm summer's day. There is no beach at high tide but when the tide is fully out there is a beach of golden sand which stretches around the other side of the headland (known as Benoath Cove) from the main inlet (Bossiney Haven). There is good snorkelling to the far left of the beach, and also to the far right when the tide is right out. The beach is not patrolled by lifeguards and combined with the steep steps down, it's not ideal for young children. For more information and directions see our page on Bossiney Haven.

Tregardock beach at low tide

Tregardock is a surf beach similar to Trebarwith Strand but access is by footpath only. There are beautiful views on the walk down over Port Isaac Bay and nice wildflowers. As it's a bit off the beaten track, not that many tourists go to Tregardock, so in the Summer it's guaranteed to be pretty quiet on the beach. However parking is very limited along the road (space for at most about 20 cars) so it's best to get there early if possible in the busiest parts of the Summer. For more information and directions see our page on Tregardock Beach.

Port Gaverne

At high tide the beach is shingle, but once the tide goes out there is a sandy beach. Being very sheltered, Port Gaverne is good at all states of the tide for swimming and launching kayaks. Behind the beach is a pub - the Port Gaverne Hotel which serves local real ales and food. For more information and directions see our page on Port Gaverne.

There is spectacular scenery both on the walk down and from the beach itself including a rock arch and the cliffs are covered with flowers from gorse and heather in early Autumn. On the path down and from the beach you may well see two peregrine falcons that nest on the cliffs near here - on windy days they often hang in the wind by the cliff edges. This is not a safe beach for swimming unless the sea is completely calm with no surf. For more information and directions see our page on The Strangles.

Coastline at Lundy Bay

At Lundy Bay, the footpath from the car park leads to 3 small beaches. The first two make up Lundy Bay; the one on the right is Epphaven Cove. At high tide the beaches are rocky. At low tide they join up to form a beautiful sandy beach. The path to the beach is surrounded by blackthorn (sloe) trees if you are around in Autumn and fancy making Sloe Gin.

The beach can get quite crowded in Summer, especially when the tide is not all the way out and the beach is quite small, so best either aim for low tide or go early/late in the day when fewer people are around.

Directions

Take B3314, turn off towards Polzeath. Take the right fork towards Pentireglaze. Almost immediately on the left is a small car park. The footpath down to the beach is directly opposite the car park.

More info

• Satellite map of the beaches
• Cornwall in focus page on the Lundy Bay beaches
• Surf info and latest reports for Lundy Bay

Coastline at Crackington

Crackington Haven is a pebble beach at high tide but quite a large sandy beach at low tide. There is a fairly large car park and pub just behind the beach and toilets by the track down onto the beach. Although it gets reasonably busy in Summer, the large beach at low tide and car park means it doesn't get too crowded.

The tourist information centre in Tintagel has a leaflet (costing 60p) for a 4 mile (steep) circular walk around Crackington which has lots of information about the history of the area.

Directions

Turn right onto the B3263; follow road to T junction; Turn left at T junction signposted Camelford; go straight across offset crossroads and over Slaughterbridge; Turn left at t-junction onto A39.

More info

• Satellite map of the beach
• Wikipedia page on Crackington Haven
• Cornwall in focus page on Crackington Haven

Polzeath

Polzeath is Cornwall's second surf capital after Newquay. Bustling in the summer, it's a good place to get surf lessons, buy surf gear or just give it a go. There is quite a lot of parking (on the top of the beach itself). There is a beach at all stages of the tide. Down the left side of the beach there are some good rockpools at low tide. The rest of the beach is very flat and sandy, which means even when there is a big surf running in the shallows the waves are small which makes it safer for small children to paddle or surf than some of the steeper beaches further north toward Bude.

Daymer bay at low tide

Just around the corner from Polzeath, Daymer bay faces into the Camel Estuary. The sheltered estuary is popular for windsurfing, kitesurfing etc. There is a beach at all states of the tide and the waves are never very big so its a safe place to take young children paddling. There is plenty of car parking even at the busiest times in the Summer. The beach starts right next to the car park.

For more information and directions see our page on Daymer Bay and Rock.

Widemouth Bay

Bude is surrounded by a number of west-facing surf beaches. They are popular spots for surfing and also have some good rockpools between rocky ridges along the edges. The closest to Park Farm is Widemouth Bay and on the other side of Bude are Sandymouth and Northcott Mouth, with Crooklets beach at Bude itself. For more information and directions see our page on the Bude beaches.

• Shoreline Activities in Bude run a beach ecology course
• Some pocket guides to the wildlife you're likely to find on the beaches of North Cornwall:
  • Collins Gem
  • Green guide
  • Pocket nature
• Coastal geomorphology of the Tintagel area (quite academic)