Visit West Cornwall

The beaches of West Cornwall are amongst the most beautiful in Europe and are noted for their clean and sparkling sea water and their outstanding beach facilities. West Cornwall offers a variety of quality beaches and coves from busy family beaches to popular watersports venues and, at the other extreme, tucked away quieter suntraps. Along 50 miles of coastline there are the gorgeous open miles of silky white and glowing golden sands of St Ives, Hayle and Sennen as well as the smaller crescents in the coves like Porthcurno and Carbis Bay.

Major beaches such as Porthmeor and Porthminster at St Ives, Sennen beach near Land's End, and Marazion beach have been regular Blue Flag award winners for cleanliness and for top quality facilities. In 2006 Carbis Bay Beach was also awarded a Blue Flag award.

There are beaches in the area to suit everyone's needs. At all the main beaches you can laze on silky soft sand and swim in crystal clear seas that match the best that the Mediterranean, and even the Caribbean, can offer. For families and very young children, the easily accessible Marazion Beach, Porthminster at St Ives and Carbis Bay Beaches are ideal.

If you are looking for exciting water sports then you can ride the Atlantic swells with surfboard and bodyboard on Porthmeor at St Ives, Gwithian at Hayle and Sennen, beaches that are recognised world-wide as top surf venues.

For windsurfing, Marazion and Hayle have international reputations and even the newer action sports, such as kite surfing are "taking off" in a big way in West Cornwall.

The lifesaving service is operated by the RNLI, all main beaches have excellent cover during the daytime in the summer. It is always recommended that you check that the beach you intend to go to has lifeguard cover.

We also have dog friendly beaches in the area and for more information on which beaches you can visit with your dog or for further events and much more please telephone the local Tourist Information Centres.

North coast beaches - click for details on north coast beaches (link opens in a new window)