Beautiful Blue – The Beaches

Active or restful, enjoy the water

Includes Surfing, Paddleboarding, Sea Kayaking, Diving and Boat Trips

Positioned between two stunning but very different coastlines, there are a number of beaches within a short distance from Kernock. We are blessed with an impressive South East Cornwall coastline, about 10 miles from Kernock, known as Cornwall’s forgotten corner. The North coast of Cornwall is perhaps better known for its surfing beaches than the South coast.

Details of the Cornish and Devonian surf beaches and relevant ability levels are listed below, or see www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/surfing.htm

There are loads of beaches listed here, which will enable you to choose based on your interests and needs, but for more comprehensive information on Cornish beaches, including detailed information on Accessibility and Dog Policy for each, visit www.cornwallbeachguide.co.uk

Postcodes for SatNav (SN) are included for each beach. Provided in your cottage is the Cornwall Tourist Board map that has all the details regarding dog friendly beaches at different times of the year.

We have buckets, spades and fishing nets at Kernock for you to use during your stay.

Seaton beach Christmas Day

South East Cornwall – closest beaches

Our top picks:

Best accessible (no dogs)– Looe beach (no dogs)
Best accessible (dogs all year) – Seaton beach
Best for young children – Looe Beach (safe, sand, rock pools and crabbing, watersports)
Best for surfing – Whitsand Bay
Best for dog walking and scenary (low tide!) – Whitsand bay (warning steep steps)
Best for general beach and watersports – Cawsand (no dogs seasonal) and Kingsand (dogs allowed) or Looe beach

South East Cornwall Beach Guide

Portwrinkle (11.3 miles from Kernock) – shingle beach with rockpools. Eastern side (Finnygook) good for experienced surfers. Steep paths down to the beach. Dogs all year at the Finnygook end. SN PL11 3BU

Seaton (11.4 miles from Kernock – Cornwall not Devon)– long shingle beach with great rockpools. Dog-friendly all year. This beach does not have easy wheelchair access. Good beach café and dog-friendly Smugglers Inn SN PL11 3JD

Downderry (12.2 miles from Kernock) – long sand & shingle beach (links with Seaton) with brilliant rockpools. Access is down steps or steep slope. Great for small children. Dog-friendly year-round. SN PL11 3JY

Whitsand Bay (14.4 miles from Kernock) – glorious unspoilt 4 mile stretch of sand. The paths down to it are quite steep and rocky, so maybe not the best idea with pushchairs or very small children. Some sections have lifeguards in the summer. Dog-friendly all year. Steep cliff path.

Dog sitting on a cliff overlooking Whitsand Bay

Whitsand Bay has nearly 4 miles of dog-friendly beach

Whitsand Bay is the home of Adventure Bay Surf School and coasteering venue. The staff are all qualified lifeguards and surf instructors, and the feedback is excellent for beginners and middle ability surfers. Adventure Bay Surf School offer surf lessons, paddle boarding, coasteering. T 07722 913 296 SN PL10 1JX W https://adventurebay.co.uk E info@adventurebay.co.uk

At the West end of Whitsand Bay, you can find Tregantle Bay (below Tregantle Fort and Tregantle cliff, referred to as long sands) popular with locals, great for dogs but steep access. Park at Freathy or limited parking at Tregantle. Great sandy beach when the tide is out (check the tide times when planning your day). Only swim when lifeguards are on duty due to rip currents. From the A374 Trerulefoot to Torpoint road, turn off onto the B3247 and continue to the viewing layby next to Tregantle Fort: 350m further on is the entrance to the car park on the left (capacity 200 cars). There is a layby in front of the car park for about 60 cars. The gate into the access path to the beach is on the right with a 480m walk down a path to the beach (not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs). No toilets, dogs allowed all year. SN PL11 3AL www.cornwallbeachguide.co.uk

Millendreath Beach, Nr Looe for paddleboarding, single and double kayak hire. T 07740 683719 SN PL13 1 NY W https:seaexplorers.co.uk

New to sea activities, e-foil (electric hydro foiling), can be experienced at Looe bay

T 07821840916 SN PL13 1NZ W https://efoilcornwall.co.uk E info@efoilcornwall.co.uk

Looe (14.6 miles from Kernock) – popular sandy beach with good facilities. Lovely child friendly, fun beach, which the town is wrapped around, so very easy access for restaurants etc. Busy in summer. Good disabled access. Park in the Millpool car park. No dogs allowed on the main beach. SN PL13 1BU

Kingsand & Cawsand (16.2 miles from Kernock)– these twin fishing villages have mainly golden sandy bucket-and-spade type beaches. Lots of tea rooms, quaint cottages and windy lanes to explore. Cawsand is dog-friendly out of season and Kingsand is dog-friendly all year. There is a large car park at Cawsand. Cawsand has a lovely, sheltered beach on the Rame Peninsula for paddleboarding and sea kayaking with Cawsand Bay Watersports. Lots of coves and inlets to explore. T 07818 048895 SN PL10 1PG E cawsandwatersports@gmail.com

Talland Bay (17.7 miles from Kernock) – popular family beach with great rockpools. Good access down a slope. Dogs allowed all year (on leads). Parking limited. OS Map 107 in cottage. SN PL13 2JA

Lantic Bay Great Lantic beach (28.1 miles from Kernock) – South East Cornwall’s best kept secret! Stunning sheltered cove more like the Med than Cornwall. Nearest parking 20 minutes away at Triggabrowne, no facilities, very steep cliff path (but worth the effort if you don’t have small children). Also glorious viewed from the South West Coast Path from the top! SN PL23 1NP

Fowey – Readymoney Cove (31.1 miles from Kernock) – a small, sheltered gently sloping sandy beach sheltered by cliffs on the mouth of the Fowey Estuary. SN PL23 1JH

Pentewan Bay near St Austell (35.7 miles from Kernock) – a pretty beach with long stretch of near white sand, used by all abilities of surfer. Cornwall Water Sports also provide paddle boards, windsurfing, sea kayaking, and self-drive boats. Book on the day. T 01726 842939 SN PL26 6BX W www.cornwallwatersports.co.uk

Polstreath Beach (37 miles from Kernock) near Mevagissey – aquamarine waters, super quiet wide and sheltered stretch with sand and pebbles. Steep steps to stretches further away from the village. Dog friendly all year SN PL26 6TH

South East Cornwall/Devon south coast – Boat Trips

Save your legs and view the coast from a boat. For accessible boat trips, there are locations in Cornwall and Devon where you can hire wheelchair accessible wheelyboats. For sites, see Web: www.wheelyboats.org/locations.html

Plymouth Boat Trips: does pleasure boat trips from Plymouth to Calstock, regular tours of the Naval dockyards and a ferry to Cawsand. T 01752 253153 SN PL1 2NX W www.plymouthboattrips.co.uk

Padstow Sealife Safaris: offer a host of different boat trips exploring the wildlife around the North Cornwall coastline. Well behaved small to medium sized dogs permitted. T 07754 822404 SN PL28 8AF W www.padstowsealifesafaris.co.uk

Looe boat trips: Sea safaris to explore the Cornwall coast, fishing trips, glass bottom boats, visits to Looe island, and luxury boat trips all offered from Looe. www.welcometolooe.com/activity/boat-trips/ T Various – visit the website and select your chosen trip where you will find details.

South East Cornwall/Devon – Diving

Dive South East Cornwall South East Cornwall offers a wide range of diving opportunities, from easy first dives to deepwater dives for the most experienced. From Europe’s first artificial diving reef, Scylla, to other wrecks and dive sites, South East Cornwall has some top quality sites. HMS Scylla – a Leander class frigate – was scuttled as Europe’s first artificial reef in Whitsand Bay in 2004. Scylla has been decommissioned and deliberately sunk by the National Marine Aquarium to create a new underwater attraction for divers with funding from the South West Rural Development Agency.

Dive Scylla – W www.divescylla.com/diving-scylla.html
Discovery Divers – T 01752 492722 SN PL9 0AB W www.discoverydivers.org
Plymouth Divers – SN PL9 9SJ W www.plymouthdivers.org.uk

North Cornwall Beaches (Hartland to Padstow)

The North Cornwall coast is well worth a visit. There are some spectacular beaches, and coastal towns providing cultural interest too, including Tintagel, Boscastle, and Bedruthan Steps (a few miles east of Newquay). Most of the beaches are beautiful sandy beaches offering surfing and body boarding.

Of the North coast beaches, Bude is probably the nearest and has some good surf beaches. For novices, there are a few surf schools in the Bude and Newquay area – you could try www.bigbluesurfschool.co.uk There is a more comprehensive list of surf schools on www.britsurf.org/links/Surf_Schools

Widemouth Bay, about 3 miles south of Bude, SN: EX23 0AH (34 miles from Kernock), is the main surfing beach in this area, suitable for all abilities. As well as a lovely beach and surfing there is also the popular The Monster Slip and Slide which is open for the summer season only; a super 4 land 360ft long skip and slide. Based in Bude, near Widemouth Bay. Popular with families in the summer. T 07360649099 SN EX23 0ND E info@monsterslipandslide.com W www.monsterslipandslide.com

Crackington Haven – works well on a rising tide SN: EX23 0JG

Newquay achieved renown because there are beaches facing in all directions, there is a good spread of types of surf, and with the right conditions, it has some really excellent breaks.

Mawgan Porth– only really works with easterly winds SN TR8 4BL
Watergate Bay– sandy, flat and used by learners SN TR8 4AD
Whipsiderry– sheltered from SW winds SN TR7 3LX
Newquay Bay– 3 sandy beaches, it can be crowded in summer SN TR7 1HR
Fistral– best and most famous surfing beach in Britain – Big competitions held here SN TR7 1HY
Crantock Bay– this is a stunning sandy beach and when the conditions are right this gives good surf too. A great family beach. SN TR8 5SA
Holywell– best round low tide SN TR8 5PG
Perranporth – The most southerly of the north coast surfing areas long sandy beach, with a whole range of surf for all abilities SN TR6 0ND
Perran Bay– you have to walk to get there, so it has fewer surfers SN TR20 9NE
Trevaunace Cove– faces north, busy when the conditions are right SN TR5 0NU
Chapel Porth– tiny beach, only for experts SN TR5 0NS