Carbis Bay Beach (Cornwall)

Porthminster beach is in the town of St Ives and sits just below the railway station. Excellent for people who want to swim and spend time on the beach whilst also having easy access to all the facilities available within St Ives.

Porthkidney is a sheltered beach with about 600m of golden sand and sand dunes, the dunes are also known as Lelant Towans. The beach is separated from Hayle beach by a narrow strip of water. Excellent beach for swimming and becomes a surfers beach in the winter as its sheltered location helps to keep the surf up when other more exposed beaches loose wave height. Bathing anywhere near the river estuary is very dangerous as the currents can be extremely strong, safe swimming area is marked. Seasonal lifeguard and close to all the facilities in St Ives itself. We have no dog information for Porthkidney Sands beach.  

St Ives has had a lifeboat since the 1830s and the station today currently operates two lifeboats. Station and shop open weekdays in the summer.

St Ives Harbour is a working harbour but as the tide goes out you have a small beach protected by the harbour walls and within the heart of St Ives. A very busy area with restaurants and pubs but also you can hire boats and take seal trips from here. All the facilities of St Ives including car parks, boat hire, boat trips, amusements, shops, pubs and restaurants. Car parking is bad in St Ives and it is recommended to park and take the train.

Bamaluz beach is a small sandy beach with large boulders that all but disappears at high tide. Within St Ives this is the beach for allowing dogs and so is typically used exclusively by dog owners. The beach itself is situated just north of the harbour wall and bellow St Ives Museum. You have car parking and facilities within St Ives and access to the beach is down some steep steps.

Porthgwidden beach is a small sandy sheltered beach to the north of St Ives harbour. The beach is backed by grass slopes and beach huts and as well as the sand you have some interesting rocks to explore. The beach is positioned within the town between the bigger St. Ives beaches and more visitors tend to head to these bigger neighbours of Porthmeor or Porthminster beaches. Plenty of facilities as this is in the heart of St. Ives although parking can be a problem.

Porthgwidden Beach currently has 39 chalets which are available to hire on a weekly or seasonal basis. Located on the beach with views out over St.Ives bay towards Godrevy Lighthouse and Hayle beaches. Porthgwidden Beach is in the heart of St. Ives with access to all of the towns shops and places to eat.

Porthmeor beach is perfect for families, as the beach sits in the town of St Ives and is overlooked by the Tate St Ives. The beach has good sand at the top and then a slope at high water mark takes you to a large expanse of flat compact sand. Surf school is located on the beach. This beach has a cafe and restaurant, toilets, seasonal lifeguards and access to St. Ives town. In the summer it can be very hard to park in St. Ives.

Hayle Towans beach sits alongside Hayle estuary. Good sandy beach although we would recommend moving along the beach away from the estuary for safer swimming, check out the lifeguard swimming flags that normally sit in front of Black Cliff beach. Whilst the north end of St Ives Bay has good surfing beaches, Hayle Towans is the spot for kitesurfing and canoeing. Towans means sand dunes. Facilities include lifeguards in the summer, toilets, pub and cafe. Hard path slope down to the beach from the RNLI hut makes it easier to access than the steps at Black Cliff beach.

St Ives Bay has two main areas. The town beaches on the St Ives side of the estuary and then the long beach on the Hayle side of the estuary. The Hayle side has 3 miles of sandy beach backed by sand dunes (“Towans”) and cliffs. The beach stretches from St Ives estuary up to Godrevy beach, just off the point you will see the Godrevy lighthouse built in 1859. This whole bay provides a wide range of activities including relaxing on a quite stretch, rock pools, canoeing, fishing, surfing and kitesurfing. As the beach area is so large plenty of room for everyone. When you have finished on the beach move up to St Ives town and browse around the Tate gallery. This is really an ideal spot to base a Cornish seaside holiday!