If you love beautiful beaches, why leave Newquay? There’s a ton of incredible beaches around the town, right? Well, yeah, but travelling just four miles north up the coast brings you to Mawgan Porth Beach, a golden sandy paradise that isn’t near busy streets during the summer. No, this place offers a much more tranquil experience.
Mawgan Porth Beach is at the mouth of the River Menalhyl which flows past the town of St Columb Major and the pretty village of St Mawgan, spilling out into the deep blue at this small settlement and large stretch of fine golden sands. The scenery surrounding this west-facing beach is simply stunning and there are high cliffs either side, so it’s a pretty sheltered place on the north coast. It’s also far enough away from Newquay to avoid the big crowds over the summer, meaning there’s ample sand for all visitors, especially the kids who want to get castle building.
Kids can also splash about in the small stream that runs down to the sea or explore the handful of caves at the back. And they can splash about in the clean waters of the sea, as can anyone because this is a top place for a dip. There’s seasonal RNLI lifeguard cover daily between 9 and 24 April for the Easter school holidays and then between 30 April and 25 September for the summer. There’s then some weekends-only and half-term cover throughout October too. And this is great for the many surfers who head to Mawgan Porth Beach. It’s a north coast spot, so that means it’s quite exposed to those ace Atlantic swells, making surfing a top pastime here.
Surrounding the beach are some fab cafés for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, plus there’s some cracking fish and chips and bistro options too. Taking some grub out and eating on the beach is a recommended experience. There’s also a few decent shops here where you can hire surf boards, buy buckets and spades or just grab a cute Cornish souvenir. Not enough for you? St Mawgan village is only just over a mile away and there’s pubs there. Good ones. And even if that isn’t enough, hit up the nearby St Eval Kart Circuit for something totally different after a few hours on the sand.
The South West Coast Path also runs next to Mawgan Porth Beach for all those walkers out there. Only half-an-hour away on foot are the stunning Carnewas at Bedruthan, so that’s a must if you like magical views based on Cornish legends that will live in your memory forever. Ah, we could wax lyrical about this stretch of sand for ages. But you don’t want us to do that. You want to go and experience this beach for yourself. There’s more to this beautiful corner of Cornwall than just Newquay.