There is simply no better place for a beach family holiday than Cornwall. The North Cornish coast has some of the best beaches in the country, with many suitable for families with children of all ages, and a number of excellent surfing beaches.

Our personal favourites are Trebarwith Strand, [check out the tides] and Polzeath (both are great for surfing), with Daymer Bay and Rock the perfect places for families with younger children.

Here’s a guide to these, and some of the other best beaches locally…

Polzeath Beach
Good Beach Guide 2015 and Blue Flag Award 2017, this beach near Wadebridge attracts a multitude of surfers due to its easily accessible location and long slow breaking consistent waves. For something a little less competitive Polzeath’s little sister beach, New Polzeath to the right of the bay, is a favoured location for swimming away from the surfboards. For walkers there’s is a nice easy 2 mile walk from the beach to nearby Daymer Bay and Rock which sit at the mouth of the Camel Estuary.

Trebarwith Strand
Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015. Trebarwith Strand is just over two miles from Tintagel along the north Cornwall heritage coastline landmarked by Gull Rock.  The sandy beach becomes completely covered at high tide and is accessed over rocks when approched from the pretty village of Treknow down a picturesque valley.

Daymer Bay
Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015. Stunning beach, at low tide forms long stretches of golden sand backed by dunes from Daymer Bay to Rock with superb views across Camel Estuary. 

Rock Beach
Marine Conservation Society Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015. Rub shoulders with the celebs, get at tan and take the plunge at Cornwall’s trendy destination beach. From the beach there are fantastic views up and down the wide estuary, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and bird watchers paradise, and nearby is a clutch of trendy bars, cafes and restaurants.

 Crackington Haven Beach
Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015, Crackington Haven is a lovely shingle cove dominated by majestic cliffs and offering a stretch of golden sand when the tide is out along with many rock pools. Suitable for swimming and surfing the water quality is routinely checked.

Bossiney Cove
Just a mile along the road from Tintagel towards Boscastle there lies Bossiney Cove, a beautiful hidden gem. At the right hand side of the cove there is a great cave to explore that is about 60 feet high at the entrance but only 15–20 feet wide. It opens up into a large cavern with two more caverns which become very dark.  

Widemouth Bay
Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015, Widemouth Bay is very long open bay popular with families and surfers and at low tide there are hundreds of rock pools to explore.  Situated just 3 miles south of Bude and accessible along the South West coast path, Widemouth Bay offers fantastic conditions to learn surfing or body-boarding, which is why many of the local surf schools are based there. It has also received the Blue Flag Beach Award 2017.

Summerleaze Beach
Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015. Summerleaze has a unique appeal, not least because it is less than five minutes’ walk from the centre of Bude. and the large car park leads directly to the sand dunes. The river, with its bobbing fishing boats, flanks the wide, sandy beach that is sheltered by the impressive breakwater, making the beach particularly popular with families and surfers.

Fistral Beach
Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015. The epicentre of Europe’s surfing scene where a board, a wetsuit and a free and easy attitude is a must. All the big UK surf competitions take place here including Boardmasters, the Quicksilver Skins, the UK Pro Surf Tour and the BUSA Championships so if you’re a gung-ho pro or a just a timid beginner, this is the ideal place for you to show off or take your first tentative dip in the ocean.

Harlyn Bay
Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015. Considered one of the best family beaches in Cornwall, Harlyn Bay is a wide and spacious beach of yellow sand and pebbles with plenty of interesting rock pools backed by dunes.

Mawgan Porth Beach
Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015. Large west-facing beach, plenty of sand at high tide and popular with families. Backed by the steep headland cliffs, Mawgan Porth offers a sheltered stretch of beach halfway between Newquay and Padstow.

Slightly further afield:

Sennen Cove
Good Beach Guide Recommended 2015: Big, bold and ever so cool. The most westerly surf spot in the country. With a long, sandy beach and small harbour. The Pedn-men-du, a promontory that protects the cove from the westerly Atlantic gales, is a popular haunt for climbers and in the village the lifeboat station established over 150 years ago is open to visitors in summer.

Carbis Bay
One of Cornwall’s eight award-winning Blue Flag 2018 beaches, owned by the Carbis Bay Hotel, with safe bathing beach surrounded by subtropical splendour. Facing northeast and just one mile east of St Ives, the beach rarely has any surf so makes for an ideal spot for families with toddlers as the sea here is perfect for swimming.  

Kynance Cove
One of the world’s most spectacular beaches, for centuries Kynance has been a magnet for adventurous tourists. Turquoise seas meet a white sandy beach interspersed with colourful serpentine rock stacks. At low tide caves and islands are yours to explore. In the summer Kynance gets very busy, arrive early to avoid disappointment

Prussia Cove
Secluded and romantic, and once a haunt for Cornwall’s best known smuggler, Prussia Cove has an olde-world poetic feel.

St Ives Harbour Beach
Soak up the harbourside atmosphere on this pretty beach in the favourite seaside town of St Ives. Sheltered by thick harbour walls, a soft sandy beach is revealed when the tide’s out which is a perfect sun trap even on less balmy days. An ideal safe spot for swimming and building sand castles, the beach has easy access and is surrounded by the hustle and bustle of this popular resort.

To view all the beaches in Cornwall near to Lanteglos, check out www.visitcornwall.com/beaches for a complete guide to all the facilities available – car parking, shops and cafes – and all you need to know.