Tolcarne Beach

Tolcarne is tucked into a crescent on the north shore of Newquay, set beneath tall cliffs and reached by a flight of steps from the clifftop near the town. Sheltered by the surrounding headlands, it has the soft golden sand and gentler feel of a town beach, with its rows of brightly painted beach huts giving it a cheerful, old-fashioned seaside charm.

It has long been one of Newquay’s most family-friendly beaches, with easy swimming, rock pools to explore at the edges and mellow waves that make it a popular place to learn to surf. There is a surf school based on the sand, while the left-hand corner of the bay is well known in bodyboarding circles for the Tolcarne Wedge, a steep, wedging wave that comes alive when the conditions line up.