Crackington Haven at low tide
Trails in rockpools
Coastline at Crackington
Crackington Haven
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 with a couple of cafes and a 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 beach is patrolled by lifeguards in the Summer so it's one of the safer places to go with young children north of Boscastle as long as you go at low tide when it's sandy and stay between the flags. Crackington Haven faces west so the surf is best when there's an easterly wind around low tide when the beach is less steep.
Along the left side of the beach there is a wave-cut rock plaform which contains lots of rockpools, formed in the cracks that the sea has worn between the upended rock layers. These contain a lot of wildlife including crabs, blennies, anemonies and a bonsai forest of different seaweeds. The molluscs are particularly artistic, making maze patterns in the dusting of sand within some of the rockpools.
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.
Weather forecast
Current surf conditions
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.
