New Event / Weekend / Holiday / Epic series of swims...

Here at Sea Swim Cornwall we love a tweak! Each year we’ll offer one holiday that’s a little bit different from our standard format holidays. Mainly just to see if it works, has a good up-take, see if we’ve previously ‘missed a trick’… and also so our clients have a variety of options. This year we used a campsite in the Lizard as a base. Somewhere for everyone to stay, in a central location, that offered good value for money and has a bar! Get the social side of things working…as it had slacked off somewhat (Covid!). We upped the participant numbers and actually reduced the price for this holiday and we’ve never sold a holiday faster!

Now, we’ve looked around for a similar ‘base’ campsite in the Penzance area and found a great site. Very affordable (£5 per adult, per night at the time of writing), flat ground, right in the middle of west Cornwall…5 minute drive to places like St Ives, Hayle, Penzance, Marazion… We were originally looking to promote this holiday for 2023 but we liked the campsite and set up so much we’re going to run it this year - Sept 9-11, 2022. We’re putting on 5 swims : 1 x swim Friday evening, 2 x swims on Saturday, 2 x swims on Sunday. You can book as many or as few swims as you’d like. £30 per swim (members receive a discounted entry). If this holiday proves popular we’ll add additional swims. You don’t have to stay at the campsite, locals don’t have to camp at all…

You initially book a date and time slot. A few days prior to the swim we’ll look at a reliable, short range forecast and pick the swim that best suits the days conditions - both for your enjoyment and safety. You could also book the entire week and contact us about booking some private swims, swim coaching etc prior to the weekend.

For more info and booking click the button below :

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OUR TOP 5 ONE-OFF SWIMS

These aren’t necessarily the best swimming locations that we’ve experienced. They’re the moments when the conditions were perfect and all those little, random elements aligned and we got it perfectly right.

1. PORTHCURNO : I didn’t swim this one but covered the water safety. We turned up and swam at 9am a few years ago. The BBC had loads of vehicles in the car park for the filming of Poldark and we must have missed all of the action by about an hour. On the beach there was a very light off shore breeze. The sun was out and it was warm. There were nudists on the beach next door, kit off already it was that warm! The water was crystal clear and as we approached the 1km mark an opera singer started warming up at the Minnack Theatre. Her voice was carried across the water by the wind. This is a swim that has stayed with me for a long time and I doubt I’ll forget.

2. MOTHER IVEY’S BAY : during one of our Charity swims we swam at Mother Ivey’s Bay early in the morning. We’d already completed 2 swims and the sky was clear, so it was freezing! Despite being the middle of summer there was frost on the ground and our feet hurt walking down to the first swims. However, by the time we got to Mother Ivey’s it had warmed up. The sun was in the sky and the water was stunning. Pan flat, there were shafts of light piercing through the water and stretching down to the sea bed. Not a sole to be seen anywhere and perfect quiet. Mother Ivey’s remains one of my favourite north coast swims.

3. ST JUST-IN-ROSELAND POOL / HARBOUR : having been told about it on more than one occasion this was the first time that I swam in the tidal pool, at St Just-in-Roseland. We sailed and moored up fairly close, before rowing to a nearby beach. We then walked along the coastal path to the pool. As it was a glorious sunny day, I walked the coastal path in my swimming trunks. At the start of the swim is a beautiful old church and I got some curious…and some horrified looks from Sunday morning church goers as I walked past the church….at the exact time most exited the Sunday morning service. Lovely swim, phenomenal surrounds and landscape that surrounds this particular route. You need to swim in the pool on a Spring high tide or you’ll run aground!

4. NANJIZAL & THE SONG OF THE SEA : the walk to Nanjizal alone is worth the effort. ‘The Song of the Sea’ is the famous crack in the rock, just in front of the famous rock pool. Last year we walked down and swam through the crack. Breathtaking rock feature and stunning to swim through. There’s a real mix of excitement, fear and beautiful landscape and views when you do a swim like this.

5. LAMORNA TO MOUSEHOLE : a swim on our wish list for some time. I love Lamorna. It can get seaweed stuck in the cove and isn’t always ideal but when you get it right you have tranquil, beautifully clear water, an abundance of sea life… This swim started quite bumpy. The sea was full of jellyfish but they were all fairly deep….so I thought. Until I realised they weren’t really deep, just really small! Any ‘Father Ted’ fans out there might remember the scene with the cows! This was another swim with elements of excitement, beauty, slight fear and fatigue (I wasn’t that fit at the time) all rolled into one. I loved approaching Mousehole from the west, something I hadn’t done before. Incredible seascape the whole way along. Great swim.

Plan your own salt water wild swimming trip

Unless you know the areas you’re swimming very well we’d always recommend a local guide…I appreciate that we are a local guide and it’s obviously in our interest but…it should always be safety first. If you get together as a group, the water safety can be very affordable and it’s always good to have someone with you that knows the local area and is familiar with the conditions.

Generally and if you’re swimming in areas without swell, the shallower the better. Again, without swell it’s generally better to swim on neap tides and on an incoming tide. Ideally on a slack tide (ie. 20 minutes either side of high/low tide. That’s because there is less water movement around these times…but be careful you don’t stay in too long after high, as the water will then start to flow out quite quickly.

WHERE TO START : ideally you’d choose two areas. Both facing opposite directions. That way, if there’s a strong onshore wind and chop on one coast, you can move across to the other. We often base ourselves in Penzance and the Lizard Peninsula for that exact reason. In an ideal world you’d have a light off-shore breeze.
If you’re planning a series of swims your best bet is to find a central parking location and park up early. You could then potentially walk or cycle to multiple swim locations.

THE SWIMS : try and pick swims with multiple exit points. Have a plan B. If there is water movement and you can’t get in you’ll already have an exit point. This will potentially avoid panic, which typically leads to silly decisions…

HELP : inform the RNLI/coastguard/local lifeguards of your plans. Give details regarding timings, swim locations and numbers. Also, look up local businesses. If you’re quite remote and don’t have phone r3ception, they might. Taking a mobile, VHF radio or rescue beacon is always a good idea.

VISIBILTY : just the usual. Take a bright swimming cap, tow float etc.

ADDITIONAL SAFETY : do a head count in and out. You could also take emergency contact info and med records for everyone.

RESCUE EQUIPMENT : something like a SUP could be ideal. It’s not specifically designed for rescues but can cover distances quicker than swimming and can be used for buoyancy, should anyone get in any trouble. Visibly they’re also far easier to find in the sea. The group could take it in turns and an inflatable SUP are quit3 easy to transport.

Swimming in Cornwall in a westerly wind

Strong westerly wind blows in - what do you do?

This week we were hosting a journalist for a national newspaper and the wind was howling in from the west. We had to do a bit of travelling but still got in some great swims.

A medium to strong westerly can be a little tricky to escape when on the north or west coast but it can be done…generally with a little bit of driving. With a strong westerly you may also need to check the swell direction. A SW swell along with a westerly wind may well rule out the south coast.

You can always hit most of the harbours at high tide for some sheltered swimming but if you want a bit more of an adventurous swim…

If you don’t mind a bit of a drive - Cadgwith Cove, Coverack or Church Cove in the Lizard.

You could take up the opportunity for a strong tail wind and swim from Mousehole to Sandy Cove, just before Newlyn Harbour. St Clement’s Isle (aka Mousehole Island) may also be an option.

Additionally, you could check out most of the swims in the Falmouth area, Gorran Haven, Charlestown/Porthpean, the Portscatho area or you could head for somewhere like Carrick Roads - obviously do your research on the tides.