Booby's Beach

Booby’s Bay is one of the wilder links in the chain of beaches north of Padstow known locally as the Seven Bays, set just beyond Constantine Bay and reached along the coast path that connects the two. Rocky and undeveloped, it looks out past Trevose Head, where the lighthouse stands guard over this exposed corner of the north coast.

The shore is patterned with rock ledges, hollows and pools, and at low tide the sand opens out and joins Constantine Bay in a single broad sweep. It is a beach for wandering and exploring rather than easy paddling: the rocks that give it such character also make the water lively, and it is the rugged, natural feel that draws people here. On the lowest tides the blackened timber ribs of the Carl, a sailing ship wrecked on the reef during the First World War, sometimes emerge from the sand – a haunting reminder of how unforgiving this coast can be.