Padstow Beaches

Padstow sits on the western shore of the Camel Estuary on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast, and the coastline either side of it, out towards Trevose Head, holds one of the county's richest concentrations of beaches within easy reach of a single town. This guide covers seven of them, from the quiet, facility-free coves closest to Padstow itself to the well-known family beaches further round the headland: the twin estuary-mouth coves of St George's Well and Harbour Cove, Trevone Bay with its tidal pool and blowhole, the sheltered sands of Harlyn Bay, Constantine Bay beneath its clifftop golf course, Treyarnon Bay with its own rock pool and youth hostel, Porthcothan Bay, and Mawgan Porth where the Vale of Lanherne meets the sea.

St George's Well and Harbour Cove, reached only on foot along the estuary coast path or from the small Lellizzick car park, are the wildest and least developed beaches in the folder, with genuinely no facilities of any kind. Moving west and north around Trevose Head, Trevone, Harlyn, Constantine, Treyarnon and Porthcothan form a run of Atlantic-facing sand beaches each with their own car park and character, from Trevone's giant tidal pool to Constantine's rip currents and golf links to Treyarnon's low-tide rock pool. Mawgan Porth, a little further south down the coast towards Newquay, closes out the folder with a broad, level beach backed by its own small village.

Every page in this folder has a full visitor guide to its beach - parking, facilities, disabled access information, a precise map, nearby things to do and places to stay - researched and kept up to date.