South Fistral Beach

South Fistral is the Pentire end of Newquay's famous Fistral Beach, the corner where, as locals put it, both the surf and the crowds tend to ease. The bulk of Pentire headland shelters this stretch of golden sand from some of the swell and wind that funnel into the main beach, making it the calmer side of an otherwise exposed Atlantic bay.

That shelter is exactly what draws people here. Families find it a gentler place to settle for the day, and it is a favoured launch point for surfers looking to escape the busiest of the line-ups further north. When a larger swell does run, the headland helps shape a notable left-hand wave along this end of the beach.