Why Tremorvu Campsite near Helston?

This year we’ve based a holiday from Tremorvu Campsite (although there’s no requirement to stay here, if you like your creature comforts). We’ve held holidays here in the past and we’ve only ever received great feedback. Well kept, quiet, great value for money and….more importantly, it’s a short drive to everywhere (…everywhere you’d want to swim!).

As my sketch of a spider demonstrates… There are a lot of options! With the longer drives, we’d pick two swims in close proximity, to minimise driving.

5-10 minutes : 3 Different cave swims and lovely beaches/coves, like Prussia Cove.

10-15 minutes : St Michael’s Mount, Marazion, Porthleven, Perranuthnoe

15 - 20 mins : Church Cove, Poldhu Beach

20-30 mins : Carbis Bay, Porthkidney, Mousehole

30-45 mins : Kynance Cove, Coverack, the Helford / Durgan Village / Grebe Beach

We typically offer dining options in Penzance. With this holiday and it’s location, we have easily accessible additional options, like Porthleven or Praa Sands.

*at the time of writing Tremorvu didn’t quite have all of their pitches published on their website. If this is still the case email them and they’ll handle your booking.

tremorvu@hotmail.co.uk

GUIDE TO 2024

We still have a couple of events in the pipeline, so this may not be a complete list…depending on when you’re reading this. We also offer shorter notice swims (based on the tides) throughout the year and will often create small group swims around individual bookings.

MAY 25 - starting in slightly cooler water but the weather has been great in May for the last few years and these are shorter swims…so water temp isn’t a problem. This is a shorter distance ‘slow swimming day out’, multi-swim (non)-event. Number currently restricted to 24 and some head-up breaststroke is expected…encouraged even! These are leisurely swims, on a social day out. West Cornwall is our back yard and we know it better than any other area in Cornwall. Loads of opportunity for great beach swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. TICKETS / MORE INFO - CLICK HERE.

JUNE 8 - a little adventure in north Cornwall. The North Cornwall 5K Day. Quite simply, open to anyone that can swim….5k (not in one go)! All abilities welcome, provided you can cover the distance over 3 swims. So approx 1.7km per swim (x3). We have a delightful back-up plan in case of swell or undesirable wind. Limited number on the event, avoiding mass starts and tight turns around buoys… MORE INFO - CLICK HERE

JUNE 18-20 - a ‘slow swimming’ midweek holiday based around west Cornwall, the Lizard and Helford. As there is a huge area to choose swims from, this holiday can offer some absolute beauties! We have suggested a centrally located campsite but you can stay where you like. We have multiple members of staff on safety on these holidays, so pace and distance is very flexible. Loads of potential for a mix of beach and river swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. MORE INFO - CLICK HERE

JUNE 25-27 - our standard pace midweek, west Cornwall holiday. By standard pace you’d be looking at the middle lane of a public swimming session (from fastest to slowest)…provided you can cover the distance we really aren’t that bothered. This holiday offers longer distances, of around 1.5-2km per swim. We have ample team members on water safety and we can split the group, if needs be. Again, we know west Cornwall very well. Great potential for lots of beach swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JUNE 29 - Our 10K Day swimming event. 4 swims, over 1 day, totalling 10km. This event will be based in the St Mawes - Roseland area. Numbers on this event are limited to 50. Although some are welcome to race the routes, it is really more of a challenge, than an event. We’ve stripped back the t-shirts and freebees normally associated with this sort of event and simply kept the price down. Great opportunity for beach and river swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JULY 2-4 - slow swimming midweek holiday, based around the Penzance area. Like the other slow swim holidays, we’ll pick nice flat and safe routes over a shorter distance (250m -1km). We’ll try and keep this one centred around Penzance, if the conditions allow. Some amazing beaches in the area for fantastic swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JULY 5-7 - Standard weekend swimming holiday, based in St Ives / Penzance. By standard pace you’d be looking at the middle lane of a public swimming session (from fastest to slowest)…provided you can cover the distance we really aren’t that bothered. This holiday offers longer distances, of around 1.5-2km per swim. We’ll try to include some delightful swims, in the St Ives area…as well as some around Penzance. All swims will be launching from beautiful beaches. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JULY 12-14 - slow-to-medium pace swimming holiday, in St Austell. This is a flexible speed/distance holiday that allows the participants to explore St Austell Bay. Swimmers have to be able to cover around 500m per swim at their own pace. We’ll have multiple personnel on water safety, so we can subdivide into smaller groups. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JULY - AUG - we have a selection of one-off swims throughout July and Aug (pace requirements included on the link)…as well as additional dates to come. CLICK HERE for calendar.

SEPT 6-8 - easily one of our most popular weekend swimming holidays. We restrict numbers (15) on this one and it’s a slightly more intimate holiday. The Lizard Peninsula has dozens of fabulous swims on offer, including both beach and river options and the water is a great temp this time of year. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

SEPT 27-29 - Our most affordable swimming holiday. Set on the weekend, in the St Mawes / Roseland area. At the end of Sept the water is nice and warm. The holiday is set in an area that offers great protection from the wind and you have dozen and dozens of river and sea swimming options. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

Slow Swimming Holiday - Case Study, 2023

2023 was the first year that we offered ‘slow swimming’ holidays and they were extremely popular. One of the holidays fully booked and had a waiting list of 18 people! So obviously, we’ve added lots of additional ‘slow swimming’ activities to our annual calendar.

In this blog post we’ll take a look at two of these hol’s and talk you through all the details. I thought this would be particularly relevant and of interest to anyone that’s never been on a swimming holiday, worries about their pace in regards to group swimming and anyone that simply wants more info. We’ll look at distances, locations, access, staffing, pace…

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HOLIDAY 1 : a midweek ‘slow swimming’ holiday, based in west Cornwall, June 13-15. Price £129. Group size was 24, with 3 on water safety (43 seasons of beach lifeguarding/water safety experience between us)…as the forecast was perfect. If it had been slightly more challenging, we would have had 4 on water safety. We’d suggested staying at Tremorvu Campsite but obviously you could have stayed wherever you like.

Swim 1 - Perranuthnoe. Tues, at 3.45pm. Not that well known by tourists but a beautiful beach, with a stunning beach side cafe. After parking, the group strolled up the coastal path on a 500m walk and then down the track to a very quiet, secluded beach. With 3 members of staff on water safety the group soon split up with around 8 people doing a supervised shorter route (approx 400-500m), a number of these swimmers did head-up breaststroke. The other group went on to complete around 1.7km. Both groups swam around a great circular cave route, the ‘distance’ group then went on to navigate some very interesting channels, cut into some flat rock.

Swim 2 - Porthcurno. Weds, at 9.45am. Straight walk from the car park and down the beach, around 400m. On this swim we had a better idea of the group and offered 2 options. Around 10 of the swimmers chose the shorter route out to the Minack Theatre, for a ‘seaside’ view and back to the beach (approx 400m). The second group headed over to Logan Rock and back, around 1.8km, although a few turned back early (approx 1.4km). This for many, was followed by the ‘essentials’…coffee and cake at the cafe, some had lunch.

Swim 3 - Nanjizal. Weds, around 3.30pm. This swim is an absolute beauty that we rarely offer, as the conditions have to be perfect. It’s a straight forward coastal path and a good 20-25 minute walk to the beach, from the car. Here, we swam through ‘Zawn Pyg’ or the ‘Song of the Sea’ cave. Absolutely stunning, world class swim. The route through the cave is around 400-500m. Some of the swimmers enjoyed it so much that they did it twice. A number of the group also swam across the bay…so totalled around 1.3km.

Dinner - we had a delightful and social group dinner at 45 Queen St on the Weds evening.

Swim 4 - 3 Bears Caves Swim. Thurs, 10am. Access to this swim is a little trickier. A 400m walk down a fairly steep coastal path and then a careful bum shuffle down some rocks at the bottom, which all the group comfortably managed. We then had a great swim into 3 caves. All of the group completed the swim at their own pace, around 800m. Some then added some distance, with a swim across the beach - total 1.4km.

Swim 5 - Porthleven. Thurs, at around 2.30pm. A few of the group opted out, as they were tired but came down and did some sun bathing on the quay. Some also jumped off the harbour wall! A leisurely swim out from the harbour, around the reef and back in, on a slack tide. Very easy access along the quay/road. Swim distance approx 1-1.4km. A few waited until the water safety team were back and swam a much shorter route in the harbour.

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TOTALS - walking of around 9km and swimming of around 3km-7.5km depending on which route you opted for. Some swam head-up breaststroke, some front crawl and some completed a mixture of the two. One swimmer also opted out of 2 swims…so swam around 1.5-2km.

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HOLIDAY 2 - St Mawes / Roseland Peninsula weekend ‘slow-to-medium pace’ swimming holiday. Sept 29 - Oct 1. Price £119 (only 4 swims on this weekend, standard is 5). Group size - 15. 3 on water safety (approx 43 seasons of beach lifeguarding/water safety experience between us). Over the weekend we had sun, a little wind and overcast conditions. We’d suggested staying at Treloan Campsite but participants were free to make their own arrangements.

Swim 1 - St Just-in-Roseland tidal pool / harbour. This is a stunning swim, that requires the right sized tide. We picked one of the biggest tides of the year and put on a swim, that included part of the sunset. 200m walk to the entry point. Swim length was 400 - 1.5km depending on the swim. A few head-up breaststrokers turned back early, with a member of the team.

Swim 2 - St Anthony’s Lighthouse. This required some work on our part, as the forecast changed. We spoke to the group and they were all happy to walk approx 3km to a breathtaking beach, around the corner from St Anthony’s Lighthouse. There we swam approx 1-1.5km up the Percuil River. A few swimmers swam and chatted their way around 400m of the route. Again, we split the water safety team and covered all of the swimmers.

Swim 3 - Porthcurnick. We stopped at the Hidden Hut at Porthcurnick for lunch. A great spot for refreshments. The wind had picked up (as predicted) and made the second swim slightly challenging. After careful planning we all walked over to Portscatho and used the headland for shelter. Whilst it was nice and sheltered in the bay, it got slightly rougher towards the point, which some swimmers quite enjoyed. Half the group stayed in the bay and some swam out to the point. Most of the swimmers climbed onto the swimming pontoon and jumped/dived off. Swim distance 400m - 1km. 500m worth of walking.

Swim 4 - St Mawes Beach. A straight forward swim up the Percuil River, from the beach in St Mawes. After a 200m walk from the car park, you pop down the stairs and you’re on the beach. We swam up the river. Some of the group opted for a 500m swim, while others pushed on and covered around 1.5km. We all ended up in Da Bara Cafe straight after!

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TOTALS - around 8km of walking, with 1.9km - 6km of swimming activity. Some swam head-up breaststroke and chatted (a lot!), some front crawl and some completed a mixture of the two.

West Cornwall Swimming Holidays

Like most of our activity we pick west Cornwall because you have options for swims in all conditions. Whether it be high wind or swell…or both. West Cornwall provides shelter from almost all conditions and we can put on safe and sheltered (and obviously enjoyable!) swims. In the last 9 years, we’ve only ever put on 2 (stunning) lake swim, as we couldn’t find a good option and we’ve never cancelled a swimming holiday.

West Cornwall is the ideal location for a swimming holiday, as it has coast facing pretty much every point on a compass! You have large granite cliffs in areas, offering shelter. Although it’s a little further out, you also have additional options on the Helford River and Lizard Peninsula. You also have some of the following options for swimming :

St Michael’s Mount

Porthcurno

Mousehole harbour & island

Praa Sands

3 Bears Caves Swim

Carbis Bay

Porthminster Beach

Porthkidney Beach

Lamorna Cove

Perranuthnoe

We offer both standard pace and slow swimming holidays in west Cornwall. Standard pace holidays generally average at approx 2-2 1/2 minutes per 100m or 20-25 minutes per km. We have multiple members of water safety on these holidays, so there’s no issue with the group splitting up…you certainly shouldn’t be too concerned about your pace, provided you can cover the distances. Slow swimming holidays offers shorter distances for head-up breaststrokers, all the way through to slower front crawl swimmers.

For all of our activity - CLICK HERE

St Mawes Swimming

2023 was a very popular year for Sea Swim Cornwall…so popular in fact, that by July we decided at the last minute to put on an additional swimming holiday in Sept. As we hadn’t done a lot of swimming in the St Mawes / Roseland area…this was the obvious choice.

St Mawes is an ideal location for swimming holidays, as you have multiple sheltered rivers to choose from, as well as coastline facing in every direction. As well as the wind and conditions, the tide also dictates where you might swim…meaning every swimming holiday is different.

This is St Just-in-Roseland and the tidal pool. Great way to start a holiday!

Penzance holiday activities guide

Now offering midweek swimming holidays, to run alongside our weekend and private booking activities, we thought it’d be a great idea to include a Penzance activities guide. An idea of additional activities you could undertake whilst visiting. OBVIOUSLY it’ll be difficult to compete against the swims we’ll offer but we’ll direct you to some providers that can compliment the swims.

Your first port of call might be to check out Kayak’s local area guide, particularly for accommodation - CLICK HERE.

You also want to check out some of the following :

1. Western Discovery - walking holidays

2. Ocean High beach hire/activities provider, Marazion

3. Ocean Sports Centre, Carbis Bay. Activities and hire centre

4. Kernow Coasteering

5. Electric bike hire - Ride On / Beryl Bikes

6. Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens

7. Sauna on the sea front

8. Local art galleries

9. Surf school Praa Sands / Surf school Sennen

10. Visit St Michael’s Mount

11. PASTIES!

12. Minack Theatre

13. Polgoon Vineyard and vineyard tours

14. Morrab Gardens

15. Good food and entertainment

16. Great food in town

17. Newlyn Filmhouse

18. Mousehole Harbour

Helford River Wild Swimming Event

At the start of 2022 there were loads of westerly winds. In an attempt to escape the dreaded ‘westerly’ we popped over to the Helford and the lesser well known Gillan Creek. Thank God for those westerlies! Ever since we’ve carried out quite a bit of activity in both areas. Both are absolutely stunning and both areas are fairly well protected from most wind directions. More importantly, both are really safe areas to swim (in the right conditions) and have very easy exit points.

For 2023 and the foreseeable future we have put together a series of wild swimming days out. These are very casual, walking - swimming days out. They’re designed specifically for people that simply want to turn up and swim at their own pace. No open water swimming experience is required and participants can swim whatever stroke they like, over very flexible distances. We typically take in 3-4 swims over an afternoon or morning.

SUMMER FOOTAGE

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AERIAL FOOTAGE

Some aerial footage, shot in the winter over a number of the areas and beaches we’ll hopefully include on the 2023 day out.

Swimming Holiday Costs

Here at Sea Swim Cornwall we do our very best to offer great value for money and make swimming holidays accessible for all. When we first started we took a long hard look at the industry and it was very clear that the majority of swimming holiday out there were unaffordable for a lot of people…or it might be something you’d do once or twice in a lifetime. We decided that we wanted to change that.

We started by offering 3 day (2 1/2 day really) swimming holidays (5 epic swims). Part of the reason for this was that most people would only have to take 1, possibly two days off work to attend a great long-weekend. With a shorter trip, you also don’t have to pay a great deal for accommodation and/or meals out. We offer private one-off bookings, so if anyone did want a few more swims, they can simply get in touch and book either side of the holiday. You may also want to take in some additional activities, so could easily take a week off and do both.

This year we’ve actually put our prices down! During 2022 we tinkered with our usual formula and offered a larger group swimming holiday. It sold out in record time and was our most affordable and popular holiday to date. Whilst we had more people in the water, the ratio of water safety members to swimmers was better than our traditional style holiday and it gave us more flexibility when it came to the group spreading out…it was a very easy decision when it came to rolling out more of these holidays.

Most of the following budgets are based on an individual booking. If you come down as a pair (with a fellow swimmer), you obviously share accommodation expenses etc and benefit from lower accommodation, driving…expenses.

BUDGET HOLIDAY :

Swimming holiday (mid-week option) - £129

Fuel (mid-range, mid-sized car, approx 400 round trip) £70

Additional driving/parking in Cornwall - £50

Camping (2 nights). £15-30

Lunch out - £20

Total : approx £300 / £270 per person if you shared a car and tent

MID-RANGE BUDGET :

Swimming holiday - £139 to £188 (depending on the holiday)

Fuel (mid-range, mid-sized car, approx 400 round trip) £70

Additional driving/parking in Cornwall - £50

B & B (3 nights) - £300-400 (could book with a friend & share cost)

Lunch and 1 dinner out - £50

Total : approx £670 or around £500 per person sharing with a friend

HIGHER-RANGE BUDGET :

Swimming holiday - £188-£239 (depending on which holiday)

Fuel (mid-range, mid-sized car, approx 400 round trip) £70

Additional driving/parking in Cornwall - £50

B & B / Hotel (3 nights) £650 / 2 Nights £450

Lunch & dinner out £70

Total : approx £1,000 for 3 nights or £800 for 2 nights.

TO CHECK OUT OUR 2023 HOLIDAYS - CLICK HERE. We also take private group bookings and offer 1-day events.

Safer Swimming Guide - Porthcurno

I can’t believe that we’ve written dozens of safe(r) swimming guides over the last couple of years but never written one featuring Porthcurno Beach.

Well here it is. A guide to safer swimming at Porthcurno. There are also a couple of suggested swim routes, over to Logan Rock and around the corner to the Minack Theatre (for a very unique perspective).

Porthcurno to Minack and back - approx 500-600m

Porthcurno to Logan Rock and back - approx 2-2.5km…if you swim Porthcurno to Logan Rock on a fairly large spring tide, at low tide you could walk large parts of it. So if you weren’t up to a 2.5km swim to could do a swim-walk-swim. Just watch out for the nudists!

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SWIMMING AT PORTHCURNO :

PREVIOUS PORTHCURNO SWIMS :

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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Swimming Holiday Case Study

The following is a sequence of swims that we put on during a holiday back in 2017. It was one of those holidays where absolutely everything went perfectly (not that it doesn’t normally you understand!). The weather was perfect, there was no wind or swell - which meant that we could pick any swims we wanted.

It was a returning group and a private group booking, so everyone knew each other and we knew everyone. So there was lots of…(I hate this word but I’ll use it in this instance)…banter. The sun also shone all weekend. This obviously doesn’t happen on every holiday but even if it does rain it only ever tends to be for half the trip! A couple of unexpected things also took place - the first being an Opera singer warming up at the Minnack Theatre and her song blew across the water in the breeze for the whole swim, the second being an army of BBC trucks at Porthcurno early morning filming Poldark. We just missed the cast and crew…but it was a point of excitement…

Great holiday and if you watch the video you can view the swims that the group took on.

Am I suitable for a swimming holiday?

…is a question that we get all the time and something that I think puts a lot of people off booking swimming holidays. In this article I’ll address this question.
Now obviously I sell and manage swimming holidays, so you may be thinking this will be a bit of a biased article but…you also have to remember that safety for us and our reputation is paramount! Most of the i following info I’ll relate to our holidays but will probably apply to any swimming holiday provider.

SPEED : first up is pace. The majority of people you’ll find on our holidays, you’ll also find in the middle lane(s) of a public swimming session. You’re probably looking at an average 100m speed (over a swim of around 2km) 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Some will go quicker, some slower. This is no issue whatsoever. Quite often, the faster swimmers simply double back and get in some more distance. In general terms, the quicker swimmers are either younger or possibly a little fitter, so a sneaky double back and a bit of extra distance actually works out perfectly for them. SLOW & STEADY SWIMMERS are not generally a problem. It’s not so much about the pace, more about covering the distances. Although, we tow blow up SUPs with us on our swims. If anyone wasn’t confident covering the distances, gets tired, wants a break…we simply get them to climb onto a SUP and we’ll tow them around part of the swim. We also now offer a SLOW SWIMMING HOLIDAY where you can swim entirely at your own pace and we offer a number of different distances on each swim.

DISTANCE : this really depends on the booking. On our standard holidays we cover around 1500m - 3km per swim. We also tailor the swims to the individuals on those holidays. So, we may shorten the distances on all of the swims and then offer additional distance to part of the group at the end of any given swim. Bespoke / private group bookings are entirely tailored to the group, both in terms of the swim distances and the quantity of the swims. I’ll also point out that none of the swims are compulsory and with a little prior warning we can stay in the water at the end of any of the swims and allow clients a shorter swim option… More recently we’ve introduced our ‘slow swimming holiday’ offering flexible distances.

CONDITIONS : all of our swims are dictated by the days conditions, for both your safety and enjoyment. Individual / one-off swims are a little different but we won’t ever guarantee any specific swims or locations until we’ve seen the short term forecast (2-3 days prior to the swim day). The state of the tide may also play a factor. With the bulk of our activity in west Cornwall and the Lizard (which are both basically peninsulas), you’re almost always guaranteed a safe and flat swim. The way we plan these holidays and swims also means that you’ll never get the same swimming holiday twice.

TYPE OF HOLIDAY : it’s always worth making a note of the holiday type. As well as our ‘standard holidays’ we also offer more of a ‘wild swimming’ style holiday experience. Offering more swims, with shorter distances. This might suit you down to the ground, or provide a stepping stone towards our standard holidays.

SWIMMING OPTIONS BY ABILITY

NEWBEES / HEAD-UP BREASTSTROKERS / SLIGHTLY LESS CONFIDENT SWIMMERS : we have private one-off coaching sessions (or small group bookings) and open water confidence sessions and we offer coaching courses (a set of 3 sessions), we also offer very inclusive ‘assisted swims’ (the text is hyperlinked to find out more) and our ‘Wild Swimming Days Out’ may also be appropriate.

SLOW & STEADY / SHORTER DISTANCES : Wild swimming days out would be very appropriate, you may also opt for coaching, assisted swims, you’d be very welcome on our one-off (short notice) weekend swims and membership, private booking (individual and group) and the slow swimming holiday is available as well.

SLOW & STEADY LONGER DISTANCES : Wild swimming days out would be very appropriate, assisted swims, you’d be very welcome on our one-off (short notice) weekend swims and membership, private booking (individual and group) and the slow swimming holiday is available, as well as our standard swimming holidays. I could also look into our 10K Day event.

MEDIUM PACERS : You’d be welcome on any of our events, holidays or general activity. If you were a more mature swimmers that still swims well then definitely take a look at our Dash For Cash event. A handicapped 850m swim, that take age and gender into account. We run swimming MOTs (you’ll need to get in touch), which are a 30 minute coaching session

MEDIUM / FAST(ER) PACE : Again, any and all of our events and holidays are any option. We run swimming MOTs (you’ll need to get in touch), which are a 30 minute coaching session, designed to tweak your stroke and the Dash For Cash might be an option. If you have a collection of friends that swim at a similar speed, you may also look at a private booking swimming holiday.

IN SUMMARY : we’ve had quite a few people almost cancel or simply not turn up to holidays they’ve booked because of various anxieties and nerves surrounding their booking. In all cases it’s been their first swimming holiday and in every case they’ve had a good laugh with us at the end of it…and wondered why they were worried at all. Sea swimming can be quite daunting, particularly if you have limited or no sea swimming experience. As a swimming holiday company we will always put your safety first, as most suppliers will. We’ll always look for the days safest swimming conditions and never put you in unnecessary danger.
If unsure, you can always phone in and have a chat. As I’ve mentioned safety for us is paramount and if you are unsuitable we’ll advise you, we can also take you through other options that are available.

Sea Swim Cornwall in 2022

NEW : we’re still unsure about events for 2022. With the constant threat of new variants and possible future lockdowns we’re going to leave it til a little later… The likelihood being we’ll put on one event. What we are doing is the following : we’re running summer long events, starting in April and running through til Oct/early Nov. We’re running handicapped events, that give time advantages based on your gender and age. This format allows you to swim a particular route at a time of your choosing, either by yourself or as a small group. It allows most entrants a good chance of posting a competitive time, regardless of your age or gender. There will be an overall winner at the end of the summer that will win a cash prize. So far, we have Carbis Bay as a confirmed route and we’ll add an additional route at a later date. MORE INFO CLICK HERE.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE : We’ll be offering a monthly subscription (4 weeks at a time), on tried and tested routes in the west of Cornwall. Typically on a Saturday morning but the odd swim may take place on a Friday evening or Sunday morning (if we’re not available on the Saturday). Provided we have good numbers we’ll also contact local businesses near the swim route and arrange some coffee and cake deals post-swim. FOR MORE INFO.

SSC MEMBERSHIP : CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS. So....this year we've made a few changes to our annual membership. We'll simply list the perks below. 

1. First option on all of our short-notice or planned weekend/midweek swims

2. Minimum of 10% off our short-notice swims - typically 25%

3. First option on events and 10% off

4. Occasional exclusive discounts on merchandise

5. First discounted option on any swimming holiday places that aren't booked up

6. We'll also invite you to bring a friend (at same reduced rate) on some swims

7. Discounted coaching sessions

8. *If we work on a collaboration with another partner we may not be able to offer discounts on these events ie. working with a pool provider

9. Generally - you'll be the first to hear about swims, events and holidays and have a head start on booking these, at a discounted rate.

SWIMMING HOLIDAYS : We simply require a £50 reservation fee for any of our holidays. We’re offering them the whole way through the summer. We try and make these holidays as inclusive as possible. If unsure of your suitability simply call us. As well as offering the same winning long weekend formula we’ve also added a wild swimming holiday / vineyard tour and a Lizard Peninsula camping trip. Some of these holidays are almost fully booked, others have good availability (generally down to when we published the holidays info & booking). Holidays generally cost anywhere from £160-250 for the weekend (Fri-Sun).

COACHING & WATER SAFETY COURSES : We’ll continue to offer the same high standard of coaching and water safety awareness courses through 2022. You can either book a voucher or book a slot. We typically start in April and finish early Nov.

10 Epic lesser known swims in Cornwall

1. KYNANCE : of course this is very well known. However, most people stick to the ‘main drag’. At a certain state of tide there is a secret cave to the east. I’m not going to give away too many details…I’ve nicknamed the cave ‘the Devil’s Chimney’.

2. Porthchapel. Sits a short walk and scramble away from it’s famous neighbour Porthcurno. It’s a little off-grid and remote (always swim with a friend) but well worth the effort.

3. Kennack Sands. Offers a great day out. Fantastic walks, good swimming, a lovely beach and 2 cafes on the beach…for your convenience.

4. Porthpean. It’s not particularly secret…but if there’s someone out there reading this that’s planning a trip to Cornwall and wants some advice… Always reasonably safe and flat, clear water, stunning surrounds and lots of swim routes from the beach.

5. Praa Sands. Better know for it’s surfing but when there’s no surf you have some stunning swims around the point, to the west. Always talk to the lifeguards first and let them know your plans.

6. St Just-in-Roseland pool / harbour. You need a Spring high tide for this one but if you get it right you swim in a beautiful harbour surrounded by a sub-tropical garden and church. It doesn’t get much better.

7. Porthoustock/Porthallow. They’re a slight pain to get too (from anywhere!) and they’re not the most stunning swims but I love them. Always easy parking, very safe, clear water, there’s a crazy building at Porthoustock (that was a torpedo testing facility during the Cold War), great pub at Porthallow… Avoid the quarry side of the bay at Porthoustock.

8. Mother Ivey’s Bay. Great option on the north coast. Stunning, undeveloped beach with golden sands and a gorgeous lifeboat station.

9. Polurrian Beach. A quiet beach in the Lizard, that takes effort to access…hence the ‘quiet’. Beautiful swim towards Mullion or a slightly more adventurous swim to Poldhu (in the right conditions!).

10. The Gazzle, Newquay. Swimming from the back of Little Fistral to Towan Beach. Great little exploratory swim. You need to do this in the right conditions and be really, really careful if you’re going to swim across the harbour mouth at Newquay Harbour. *You can exit at the Fly Cellars’ just before the harbour. You also need to be careful of fishing lines at the Fly Cellars!

    PLEASE DO TAKE CARE - if you take on any of these swims. Always do your research and plan your swims. We’d suggest swimming on an incoming tide and preferably a neap tide, minimising water movement…

Porthpean Beach, St Austell.

Swimming Church Cove, the Lizard

We’ve wanted to cover this swim for some time. Church Cove is absolutely stunning. From the walk down, to the thatched roof cottages on the walk down, the tiny harbour, the swim itself… We finally had the perfect conditions and tide to offer this swim…although best not to do it on a low tide, like we did. Was slightly trickier to get out of the water than I would have liked. You might want to try this one a couple of hours after low tide. It’s also very remote, so definitely don’t try it by yourself and take the usual precautions.

Best on a westerly wind. SW light to medium strength winds will also work.

Amazing swim. You can swim right up to the Lizard Lifeboat Station. The water was crystal clear, with seaweed in patches, as well as stretches of white sand. On a higher tide there would be a couple of arches and caves to swim through. Stunning swim. Well worth the effort.

*For the more adventurous swimmers or swim-runner you could swim from Church Cove to Cadgwith (or the other way around) and run back to the car.

That’s it from us. We’ll let the video do the rest of the talking. Church Cove, the lizard Peninsula :

Review of 2021

2021 above all was very…interesting. Planning was very tricky due to Covid and us basically predicting the restrictions that might be in place. The weather and wind forecasts were all over the place, with a lot of the short term forecasts being far less accurate than usual. We had to cancel our first swim ever on the beach, just before we were going to set off…as the forecast and actual conditions were wholly inaccurate. The wind strength was really strong for long parts of the summer. The water temperature was also really cool until at least the start of June. Cornwall was incredibly busy all year, so we had to factor in parking with a lot of our activity.

That being said…what a great summer of swimming it was!

We appeared in the national press 3 times over the course of the year! The Times, Financial Times and Guardian.

We started the season with quite a few swims around Mousehole Island and a few shorter routes. Mainly for safety reasons, as if you started to get cold you’d have less distance to negotiate on your way in. We have a large list of shorter swims and some stunning swims with really interesting features, so we still offered some beautiful swims. We also offered water safety / rip current awareness courses (for the first time) in the early part of the season, so swimmers could swim safely through the summer. Along with some 30 minute coaching sessions and a coaching programme we ran at the Jubilee Pool.

We ran a number of swimming holidays through the summer. We saw lots of new faces, as well as lots of returning ones. A number of these holidays were private holidays for returning groups. By the end of the summer we also got back to what we do best - a nice social trip, with pubs and cafes featuring…as well as world class swimming of course!

2021 saw us offer a new type of holiday. We held a trip in the middle of the Lizard Peninsula, with people staying in a central campsite. This made for a far more social experience and has proved to be incredibly popular.

NEW SWIMS : We’re always on the look out for new swims. I find it incredible that we still find them 4 years of swimming holiday. This year saw us swim out of Polurrian Cove on a couple of occasions. A stunning, quiet beach, just around the corner from the more popular Poldhu Cove. As well as swimming a route up towards Mullion, we also completed a more challenging 2km route from Polurrian to Poldhu.

The Sea swim Cornwall team completed a glorious swim from Porthleven to Rinsey - a quite spectacular route of around 3 miles. READ ABOUT IT HERE.

We offered a few swims at Kynance Cove this summer and accidentally (always the best way) found a secret new cave, only accessible on a certain tide. We’ll look to offer this swim next summer…occasionally.

Church Cove, on the east side of the Lizard (there are 2!), has been on our hit list for some time. This year gave us the perfect opportunity to finally offer up this swim and it did not disappoint. Words don’t do it justice. You’d be better off clicking on the link above.

A longer swim we’ve considered for some time finally got some attention. Lamorna to Mousehole. Around 4km of what we thought would be rugid, DEEP swimming but it was surprising safer than we imagined. In the right conditions, getting out is fairly straight forward, once you’re round the point at Lamorna. There is also a coastal path you can scramble up to, if needs be. Whilst it is deep in parts, there are also fairly shallow sections the whole way along. Swimming into Mousehole, from the less popular side was also a real pleasure. It’s a swim we’ll more than likely look to offer next year.

Porthchapel - hidden around the corner from Porthcurno was a real treat. There is a little scramble / climb down the rocks onto the beach…but nothing too taxing. It’s a beautiful beach and swim. It’s also a new and different option to swim to from Porthcurno.

The north side of the west of Cornwall is an area we’ve spent some time exploring. Whilst we’re happy with heading to St Ives when a strong southerly wind blows in, it’s nice to have lots of options. We’ve found a few additional swims, although some are a little tricky to get to. We’ll save these for smaller groups and on-off swims.

Praa Sands also hosted a number of swims. Whilst I’ve visited Praa Sands a number of times, I"‘ve never really rated it as a beach. This summer however, changed that. Really enjoyed spending time here. There are a number of very cool cave swims off both ends of the beach and options to swim around to Keneggy and Prussia Cove.

Poldhu Cove better known for it’s surfing has provided us with a few very nice swims this summer. There’s an awesome little channel that you can swim through on the point and you also have the option of swimming around to Church Cove and exploring a few caves.

All-in-all fantastic summer of swimming. We’ve actually learnt a little more about reading the conditions, found some new swims and tweaked a couple of our holidays for 2022.

2022 holiday dates and events are either out or being announced shortly. Holidays requiring just a £50 fee to reserve your spot at this stage. Memebership for regular local swims are also currently available for 2022. You’ll find out about events and holidays first, be offered last minute reduced entry for any spots still available on holidays, as well as receive discounted entry for weekend swims and events. CLICK HERE for more info. Membership just £20.

Swim Camp

This year Sea Swim Cornwall are rolling out a new type of swimming holiday. We’re basing ourselves at a campsite on the Lizard Peninsula. The campsite is very central and around 15 minutes drive away from a large number of world class swims.

You have places like Kynance Cove, Church Cove, Porthallow, Cadgwith Cove, Lizard Point, Kennegy Sands… just a stones throw away.

The idea of the holiday is to allow you to book as many, or as fewer swims as you’d like. You simply book the accommodation and then book individual swims. The swims are then broken into groups - the groups based on speed and distance. We have every confidence that this camping / swimming holiday will go well this year, we’ll then look to add coaching sessions, water safety and rip awareness courses and a whole loads of extras for next year’s swimming trip. We also tow a large SUP on the swims. This allows swimmers the chance to climb aboard and have a breather, whilst still being involved with the swim and adds an additional layer of safety to the swims.

The concept and some of the locations are detailed in the video below :

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….

Salt Water Images .co. uk

1. 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!

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

Swimming in Penzance

Tom lives on the outskirts of Penzance, so knows the area really well….and what an area! In terms of swims you’re spoilt for choice. In the immediate area you have Penzance sea front which is best at high tide, the Battery Rocks being a particularly popular area. Along the same stretch you have the famous Jubilee Lido and Penzance harbour - which offers great sheltered conditions at high tide.

The highlights of the Penzance area are St Michael’s Mount (you need to swim this in the right conditions), Mousehole Harbour and Island, there are some wonderful cave swims on the outer Penzance area (but the area is my favourite and I’m not telling!). A little further out you have Porthcurno, Penberth Cove, Lamorna Cove….all stunning.

The issue with Penzance, much like St Ives is the fact that pretty much all face south. If you have chop and wind coming in from the south you’ll struggle for a local swim. You do have St Ives just up the road though, that is north facing.

Image from www.saltwaterimages.com

Swimming in St Ives

St Ives offers some fantastic swims in the local area and a great holiday destination, where a car isn’t really required and open water swims are in easy walking distance.

Most of the beaches and swims in St Ives face north / north east. If you have any wind, with a reasonable strength you may be out of luck when it comes to swimming. Anything from the south however and you’re in luck. It’s useful to point out, at this stage that the coast around Penzance mainly faces south….so a northerly wind isn’t the end of the world! Penzance is also easily reachable from St Ives, on train or bus.

In the main town Porthmeor beach is better known for its surfing. If it’s flat, Porthmeor offers a really nice swim…either wild dip or a more lengthy swim. Swimming around the ‘Island’ is a fantastic experience but I’d exercise caution. You’d need to attempt this is really flat, calm conditions and I definitely wouldn’t attempt it by yourself. Taking water safety / a guide would be your best bet.

Porthgwidden Beach is a lesser known beach in St Ives and offers stunning swims. It suits shorter swim routes or a wild swim.

The harbour itself offers sheltered conditions but you’d obviously have to be careful of harbour traffic. You could only really swim in the harbour towards high tide.

Porthminster Beach also offers beautiful swims into the harbour and around the corner to Carbis Bay. Again, exercise caution if you decide to swim around to Carbis and assess the conditions before you swim.

Carbis Bay is my favourite. You don’t have to drive into St Ives itself to access the beach and there’s ample parking in the car park (on the hill) and it’s on the train route. From Carbis you can swim at the beach itself, swim around towards St Ives or the other way to Porthkidney (towards high tide).

If you’re a swim fan, St Ives is a must visit. With all swims obviously make sure you take all the necessary safety precautions.