Beach and Coast Guide

Poldark Country

Porth Joke

Holywell Bay

Gear Sands

St. Agnes

Trevaunance Cove

Porthtowan

 

Portreath

 


Places in Italics are Cliffs, Headlands and Coastal Features.

Places in Bold are Coves, Beaches and Bays



All beaches are covered by St. Agnes Inshore Lifeboat.

Porth Joke

Unspoilt sandy beach accessible only on foot (5 mins walk). The name comes from the cornish for chough. Suitable for swimming and surfing. Parking.

The Chick - Islet.

Kelsey Head

Holywell Bay

Lifeguard. A mile of sandy beach suitable for swimming and surfing. Parking, toilets, cafe/shop. Named after a holy well the location of which is unknown.

Gull Rocks

Penhale Point

Ligger Point

Gear Sands

Grass covered sandhills and shifting sands which alternately expose and conceal St. Piran's Oratory. A 6th C saint who was the patron saint of tin miners.

Perran Bay

Lifeguard. Two miles of sandy beach suitable for swimming and surfing. On the southern side by Chapel Rock there is a natural tidal swimming pool. Due to the streams entering the sea on this southern side swimming is unsafe. Parking, toilets, cafe/shop. Beach huts. Dog ban.

Droskyn Point

Cligga Head

St. Agnes

Once thriving mining area the main industry is now tourism. The history can be seen around the area in the form of old mine workings.

Trevellas Porth

Once the busy Blue Hills tin mine was the centre of activity here.

No lifeguard. Rocks at low tide, shingle at high, not safe to swim and the cliffs are dangerous.

Trevaunance Cove

Once the main harbour for the St. Agnes mines, there are only vestiges of the harbour left.

Lifeguard. Wide sandy beach at low tide, shingle at high tide, suitable for swimming and surfing. Parking, toilets, cafe/shop. Beach huts. Dogs must be kept on lead.

St. Agnes Head & Beacon

The beacon once warned of the approach of the Spanish Armada. Standing 629 feet above sea level it's possible to view both coasts of Cornwall and thirty parish churches. At night twelve lighthouses can be seen.

Wheal Coates Mine

The ruins of the Towanroath engine house and Wheal Coates will be familiar to many because of their frequent appearance in photographs. Their imposing cliff edge position has become a symbol of Cornwall so take a camera if visiting this area.

Chapel Porth

Close to the beach are the ruins of the Charlotte United Mine.

Lifeguard. Sandy beach with sun traps among the rocks. At high tide the sand is covered. Suitable for swimming and surfing but with caution. Parking, toilets, cafe.

Porthtowan

Lifeguard. Sandy gently shelving beach suitable for swimming and surfing. Parking, toilets, cafe/shop. Dog ban.

Portreath

Small harbour used by local fishing boats, diving and pleasure boats. The harbour was once a busy port exporting over 100,000 tons of copper a year and importing coal to feed the mine engines.

Lifeguard. Sandy & rock beach suitable for swimming and surfing. Parking, toilets, cafe/shop. Dog ban.

Basset's Cove

Deadman's Cove

Hell's Mouth

Navax Point



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