Welcome to Perranuthnoe

SAFETY FIRST - In flat calm conditions, Perranuthnoe can be a very safe beach. I’d still try and swim on an incoming tide and I’d avoid swimming around the ‘point’ or headland etc…unless you know exactly what you are doing. For flat, calm conditions you’d be avoiding swell from a southerly direction and moderate to strong wind from the south. Light northerly wind or cross-shore winds will do. With surf, Perranuthnoe can have some strong rip currents running off the beach. Last year, summer of 2024 there was a beauty of a rip current running diagonally across the beach all summer long! The beach is currently lifeguarded over the main peak weeks of the summer. Have a chat to the lifeguards before jumping in.

Perranuthnoe is on the bus route. You can also walk the coastal path, although it’s slightly tricky from the west and quite a long (but stunning) walk from the east. The beach has a small car park, approx 30 cars and an overflow for the summer of an additional 40-ish.

At low-mid tide there’s plenty of sandy beach and 2 delightful cafes. Beach Cabin Cafe, right on the beach - CLICK HERE or the Peppercorn Cafe just up the road.

To the west - we have what I call the ‘Moon Beaches’. Not ideal if you aren’t steady on your feet but perfectly manageable, if you are. Nice quiet beaches. Swims here are magical. You have an underwater forest, loads of sea life and some crazy rock formations.

To the east - some beautiful, remote and quiet sandy/rocky beaches. Does require a good 10-20 minutes of stunning walks, although the path can get muddy and wet. Especially in the winter months. Again, there aren’t many people around…so be careful swimming, adopt the ‘buddy system’ etc. Swim-wise, you have gorgeous rock formations to swim around. One we’ve called the ‘doughnut’ (low tide) and an arch way (at high), if you can find them.

There are also a number of amazing swims a little further out, in either direction!

Beach Rater - Trevaunance

Whilst I haven’t rated it particularly highly, this is because it’s a beach better known for surfing, than swimming and the conditions aren’t always favourable.

In the right conditions however, the beach offers some glorious swims! You have caves that can be swum through, stacks to swim around…there is a wealth of swimming options.

Open water swimmers first aid course

We’ve been offering water safety, swim planning and rip current awareness courses for a few years now and they’ve been really well received. So, we’ve added this course to a half day of training, which also includes :

• First aid training

• CPR

• intro to using a defib

• Choking (adult, child and baby)

• towing techniques

• short practical in sheltered, shallow water

• We also spend a lot of time looking at hypothermia

• heart attacks / cardiac problems and other medical conditions…

Group swimming has never been more popular and we’ve specifically looked at issues that might crop up with swimming in groups. So, we’ve included :

• towing techniques, in case you have to tow someone to the shore. As an individual or as a group

• Choking, specifically including child and baby…as lots of swimmers are parents and grandparents

• There are a number of ‘mature’ swimmers in the water, so we’ve focused on conditions like fainting, heart issues (attacks, angina…), using defibs...

• Swimming year round is popular so we’ve included hypothermia, cold water shock, after drop etc.

• Pro-actively planning a swim and looking at the conditions.

The training is available through our website, with individual places and private group booking options.

Swimming at Porthcothan Beach

We don’t do a great deal of swimming at Porthcothan, which is a shame as it’s a stunning part of Cornwall and not always that busy. It did feature on one of our charity swims and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Porthcothan is quite a narrow, fairly long beach, that starts to open up as the tide goes out. Due to the shape of the beach, we’d advise you to be very careful swimming there on an outgoing tide…particularly if there is some swell running. We’d also advise you not to be too adventurous with an outgoing tide and swim around either headland. There are a number of small islands and rock formations and you can get some strong currents and tidal movement.

Porthcothan is lifeguarded for a number of months over the summer, there is a beach cafe and reasonable parking.

Safer Swimming Guide - Sennen Cove

Here’s our Safer Swimming Guide for Sennen Cove.

Swimming Mother Ivey's Bay

A new one for Tom and I can’t quite believe that I’ve never swum here before. Mother Ivey’s Bay was stunning and easily one of my favourite beaches during our charity challenge (and we swam 22 of them so it’s quite the compliment!). We swam it in the perfect conditions and stood on the lifeboat slipway…which is a must!

Avoid the rocks at the end of the point (visible in the middle of the shot below). You can get some weird water movement around and through the rocks.