The full guide
Read straight through, or use the planning notes above to shape an easier coastal day.
RNLI Lifeguards are on duty:
2025
Daily 17 May - 28 September
Patrol times 10am - 6pm
Beach View sits along the Towans, the rolling belt of dunes that gives this part of the Cornish coast its name – “towans” is the old Cornish word for sand dunes. Backed by marram grass and shifting hummocks of sand, it forms part of the long arc of beach that follows St Ives Bay from the mouth of the Hayle estuary, with the white tower of Godrevy lighthouse marking the far end of the sweep and St Ives gathered on the headland to the west.
It is a beach built for space rather than spectacle. The sands run wide and open at low tide, the dunes rise soft and golden behind, and there is room enough that even on a busy summer day you can find a quiet hollow to call your own. The Towans are prized for their wildlife as much as their walking, home to a remarkable range of dune plants, butterflies and ground-nesting birds.



