Camping on the North Cornwall Coast

North Cornwall is where the Atlantic hits England without anything in the way. The result is consistent surf, a hundred miles of cliff path, and beaches that are genuinely spectacular for about five months of the year and genuinely bleak for the other seven.

It is also the single busiest camping region in the country in August, when the A30 backs up for miles and every pitch within sight of the sea has been booked since February.

The beaches

Fistral at Newquay is the surf beach everyone knows and it earns the reputation, but Watergate Bay, Perranporth and Constantine are less compressed. Polzeath is the gentlest for learners. For a beach worth the walk, Bedruthan Steps and the cove at Porthcothan reward the effort of not parking directly on the sand.

Rip currents are the real hazard on this coast, not the waves. Swim between the RNLI flags, which are only up in season.

Walking the coast path

The South West Coast Path runs the full length of this shore, and the section from Padstow to Newquay is among the best day-walking in England — roughly fourteen miles of cliff, with the Camel estuary at one end and a bus back at the other.

For a shorter outing, Tintagel to Boscastle is four miles of unusually dramatic cliff with a castle at the start and a harbour at the end.

Pitching on the coast

Sandy and clifftop pitches take wind badly. Standard tent pegs will pull straight out of soft ground — carry longer sand pegs or rock pegs, and peg the guy lines properly rather than trusting the pole structure.

Go in late May, June or September. The sea is warmest in September, the crowds are gone by the second week, and pitch prices drop by a third.