Selection of safe Swimming Guides
/If you’re looking for swim-spiration for the 2022 summer here it is! I’ve selected a few safe swimming guides.
Cornish swims in a strong northerly wind.
/You get that horrible strong wind blowing in from the north - where do you swim in Cornwall? Here are some of our suggestions….
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Provided the wind isn’t too strong - St Michael’s Mount isn’t too bad. The wind doesn’t have a large fetch to whip up chop, so it remains fairly calm. You have a tail wind on the way out, protection from the island and then you obviously have a head wind on the way back. Swim anti-clockwise as you’ll have a tail wind for the longest stretch and watch out for the ferry on the way back in!
If you’re on the north coast and the tides are right…head for the Gannel. Do your research though, you need to get the tides right.
You have a number of beaches in the Penzance area, including Mousehole/St Clements Isle, Porthleven area, Rinsey, Prussia Cove…. as well as Porthcurno, Lamorna and Penberth.
Lizard area - Kynance (get there early!), Lizard Point or Cadgwith. All stunners. It’s a bit of a drive for most…so do a little mini-tour.
Falmouth shouldn’t be too bad. Head for Maenporth and Swanpool areas.
AVOID : You’ll pretty much want to avoid the whole of the north coast and St Ives. There’s not a lot of escape from a strong northly in those areas.
Short Notice Summer Swim Double-Ups
/We trialled this at the end of last summer and it worked really well. This summer we’ll offer our standard 2-3 km short notice swims (short-notice as we check the conditions midweek and then pick the swim based on the forecasted conditions). We’ll also offer shorter distance swim double-ups…so we’ll swim around 1km at two different locations, that are fairly close to each other. These are more of an exploration and as they’re fairly laid back you get more of a chance to get a few coaching tips and ask questions.
Potential Doubles for this summer :
Porthcurno / Penberth or Nanjizal / Porthcurno : Porthcurno is easily one of our favourites and a stunning swimming location. The beauty of Porthcurno is that it also has some stunning swimming ‘neighbours’.
Kynance / Cadgwith : Kynance is Cornish Top 3 swims material. Cadgwith offers the breathtaking ‘Devil’s Frying Pan’ swim, as well as some very cool nearby caves to explore.
Mousehole / Mount : swimming over to St Clement’s Isle (Mousehole Island) and back. Then swimming off the beach at Marazion.
Porthleven Harbour / Rinsey or Prussia Cove : swimming out of the iconic Porthleven Harbour and back in. Rinsey or Prussia also offer fabulous, peaceful swims.
The Gannel / Polly Joke : Crystal clear water, meets a little Cornish gem.
This summer we’re offering memberships for return/frequent ‘short-notice swimmers’. The membership offers around 1/3 discount – and is only £15! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
Top 10 West Cornwall Swims
/We’ve pretty much swum every inch of the west Cornwall coast. Here are our top 10 swims-ish. It’s really hard!
10. Prussia Cove - it’s not just the swimming but the whole experience. Beautiful, fairly quiet cove. Magical walk down. You can swim around to Keneggy or go west and back round to the start. Typically fairly clear water, always a bit chillier than other local areas though!
9. Swimming out through Porthleven Harbour (we definitely wouldn’t recommend this without an experienced guide!) and swimming SE along the beach. This is a hard one to beat in the right conditions. It’s difficult not to be impressed with some a stunning harbour.
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8. Carbis Bay to Porthkidney and back. Crystal clear water and a white sand beach. Definitely worth doing at high tide.
7. Lamorna Cove. Can be a bit hit and miss. If storms and rough seas bring in seaweed it often gets stuck there for months. You get this beach right however, it’s like being in the tropics. Clear water, white sand, an abundance of fish…
6. Mousehole and St Clement’s Isle. Mousehole is one of my favourite places in the world. Stunning village and harbour. St Clement’s Isle offers a 1-1.5km swim (depending on how straight you swim!). Give the island a wide birth ensuring you don’t get too close to the seals.
Mousehole Harbour
5. Rinsey to Praa Sands and back. Loads of see on the way. A few caves and rock features to explore en route too. At the time of writing there isn’t much sand on Rinsey beach so might be difficult to get into the water.
4. Zennor. Again, this one is about the whole experience. Stunning village, followed by a stunning coastal walk. You have to scramble down the side of the valley to het to the beach…something that older, or less mobile readers may struggle with. For me though, it’s well worth the effort. Secluded bay, clear waters….don’t swim alone though and ensure someone knows where you are.
3. St Michael’s Mount. I think I’ve marked the Mount down, simply because I’ve taken so many groups around it. I don’t think I need to write much about the Mount.
2. Kynance Cove & swimming around Asparagus Island. Breath-taking swim. Incredible rock features, both on top and underneath the water. The walk down to the beach is worth a visit alone. Best swimming at low tide and get there early. It gets very busy in the summer months.
1. Porthcurno. World Class swimming here. Plan your swim for mid-low tide or on a small neap tide. It’s great at high tide but it just gets a bit deeper, a bit darker, the golden sands get lost a little under a high tide. You can swim over to Logan Rock or head west and take in the Minack Theatre.
*To help plan your swims in Cornwall we’ve created a Cornish swimming map book - where you can record, plan and get suggestions for your swimming trip or check out our Cornish Swim Trumps card game. CLICK HERE
