The West Cornwall Swimming holiday Menu!

…well, part of it. There are loads more options but we’ve included some of the main ones. West Cornwall is full of iconic swims and some real crowd pleasers but there are also loads that are just as stunning, that you simply wouldn’t have heard of!

Our standard swimming holiday groups swim an average of around 2 - 2 1/2 mins per 100m over a longer distance swim. It’s not so much about the speed, more about covering the distance. We then have ‘slower swimming holidays’ that cover shorter distances, at a slower pace and new to 2024…the ‘Short, Slow and Social’ swimming holiday. This one is designed for the ‘dippers’.

Some of the glorious swims on offer, with a video at the bottom :

St Michael’s Mount (various routes)

Mousehole (a number of different routes) including the island and Penlee Lifeboat Station

Porthcurno and Porthchapel

Porthgwarra

3 Bears Caves Swims

Praa Sands…various routes, including cave swims

Lamorna Cove (a couple of routes)

St Ives, including Carbis Bay, Porthkidney, Porthminster, the ‘Island’ and Porthgwidden

Porthleven

Nanjizal

Sennen

Penzance Prom/Battery Rocks/Newlyn

Plan your 2025

I’m going to write a quick piece on planning your 2025 activities with Sea Swim Cornwall for 2025…this will also include your options, what we offer and may give you the odd idea for a private booking or day out.

FLEXIBILITY : if we don’t offer what you’re after…ask! We offer private bookings (one-off swims, multi-swims, events…). If it’s not in the calendar simply give us a ring and we’ll see if we can make it happen. Private one-off swims are pretty much the same price as group swims…depending on the location.

SPEED / ABILITY : we’re as inclusive as we possibly can be. Again, private bookings are an option. We run distance events and one-off swims that are an option for quicker swimmers. We also offer ‘slow swimming’ activities for the slower, head-up breaststroke, like-to-look-around style swimmer… Private individual and group swims are an option.

ONE-OFF SWIMS : we publish these well in advance on the website and also offer shorter notice swims on social media (and the website). They’re shorter notice as they’re planned around the short range forecast.

DAYS OUT : we fairly regularly offer multi-swim days out in various areas. These are great for exploring, having a social and longer journeys…as you’re travelling over for a number of swims, not just one. This format is also great for swimmers that cover less distance, as you swim more than once and can explore an entire area.

EVENTS : We offer various events that avoid long distances in one go and rather break the distance up into a series of swims. These include our 5 and 10K Day events. We refer to these as ‘challenges’ rather than races, as we avoid mass starts, tight turns around buoys… and simply let people cover the distance in a calm and relaxed manner.

HOLIDAYS : We offer 4 types of swimming holiday. The first simply being a privately booked holiday. We then offer :

The ‘slow, short & social’ swimming holiday - a holiday designed to take in multiple swims or short distance (50-400m). This is designed specifically for people that are less in it for the distance and more in it for scenery, pleasure, the social element, the general fun of it all… As this holiday cover shorter distance, this is our best value holiday.

The ‘Slow Swimming’ holiday. These holidays offer around 400-1500m per swim. They’re designed for serious sea swimmers that happen to swim at a slow and steady pace, all the way through to head-up breaststrokers that don’t mind covering some distance. With all of our holidays, we have multiple members on the water safety team, so are quite happy to split the group up if required and swim around in smaller sub-groups.

The ‘standard’ swimming holiday. People often get put off by this group and opt for the ‘slow swimming’ holiday. This is by absolutely no means an elite level swimming holiday. The average pace of the swimmers is around 2.30 mins per 100m, over a couple of kms. Again, we also offer flexibility in distances swum per swimmer and if anyone is really fast, we simply get them to double back and re-join the group.

LOCAL MEMBERSHIP : if you’re planning more than one swim with us, it’s well worth looking at the local membership. You get onto the members Whatsapp group and as well as the odd exclusive merch offer, you’ll receive around 1/3 off one-off swims, discounted entry on holiday and any other offers we publish through the group. Membership for 2025 is just £12.50!

COACHING : we offer sea swimming specific coaching session. They typically consist of a 10-20 minute chat at the start to figure out exactly what you’d like out of the session and how we approach the session itself. You’ll then be in the water for around 10-25 minutes. You’ll receive feedback and generally go away with some homework. Coaching comes as a one-off session or set series of sessions. Click here for more info. *If you’re thinking about some one-off swims or events, this is also a great opportunity to get some feedback on your suitability.

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

Beach Rater - St Ives Town

Rather than producing individual blog posts, I thought I’d include all of the beaches under the one article.

Whilst I have your attention…other than Carbis Bay, all of the beaches in St Ives are difficult to access. There’s limited parking in summer and (more recently) winter months. The best option is generally getting to St Ives early morning or parking up at Carbis and walking in or getting the train from either St Erth Station or Carbis Bay.

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.

Annual Lizard Peninsula Swimming Holiday

One of our highlights every year is the Lizard Peninsula swimming holiday. We always hold it on the first weekend of September. The water is still warm and the crowds have thinned out. We’ve held this holiday for the last four years and each one has been absolutely stunning!

This year we really had to work. We had a southwest swell that rules out the west coast and easterly winds…so our experience really came into play, during the planning for this trip. Despite challenging conditions, we put on 5 delightful swims, in flat and enjoyable conditions.

Swim 1 - Kennack Sands following a route north, along the coastline, using the cliffs for shelter. Clear water, plenty of marine life and a great swim to start everyone off.

Swim 2 - Coverack, another nice and sheltered swim. We swam up and checked out the harbour before again, swimming north and keeping out of the wind. From there we took advantage of the location and popped into Roskilly’s. Epic pizza and ice cream…

Swim 3 - Durgan on the Helford river. Stunning morning swim, in pan flat conditions. Swimming from Durgan over to Trebah, then back across to Durgan to Grebe Beach. Beautiful scenery and weather. From there we visited the very unique and beautiful Potager Gardens for lunch.

Swim 4 - Parbean Beach. Takes some effort to get to but we had a very nice swim towards the mouth of the estuary / end of the headland and back. A new route for us.

Swim 5 - Church Cove / Gunwalloe. A proper sea swim…as we had snuck in a few river routes. Great morning for it and as it was swim 5, we picked a route that allowed a half way exit.

Safe to say that everyone had a fantastic weekend, including the staff! Bring on 2024.

OUR BIGGEST HURDLE

We attract swimmers from far and wide. We’ve had clients from Scotland (taking advantage of Cornwall Airport, Newquay), Manchester, swimmers from Holland, a lady from south Australia…all over the place. As well as accommodating people from various areas of the country and the world, we also accommodate swimmers of varying abilities, experience and speeds. This is also where one of our major hurdles lies.

On a fairly frequent basis we receive emails and phone calls from clients that have booked and are looking to book, regarding the anxiety they are experiencing over swimming in the sea and their suitability to the activity they have booked. This year we have introduced a ‘slow swimming’ holiday and it’s booked up 2-3 times faster than our standard holidays…and I’ll be shocked if half the people that attend the ‘slow swimming’ holiday aren’t perfectly suited to the ‘standard’ version of our swimming holidays.

So…firstly, we’re not really concerned about the pace that people swim. What we are interested in is whether or not you can swim the distances set out in the holiday/event description. What we’ll also point out is that there is no requirement to complete all of the swims over the course of the holiday/event day. Provided you let us know prior to swim starting, there’s obviously no problem with you sitting a swim out. What we’re are also happy to do is put on a shorter distance swim immediately after the scheduled swim finishes. We adopt a very flexible approach.

Secondly, we base all of our swims on the days conditions. So we never approach a swim day (unless it’s a one-off private booking), with a set swim location or series of swim locations. That way, you swim in the safest conditions possible…for both your own safety and enjoyment and there’s no pressure on us to hold a swim in questionable conditions!

Third and final point, as I’ve already mentioned, we approach all of our activities in a flexible manner. If for example, we had a couple of slower swimmers in the group, we simply split up our water safety team and one of the team would hang back.

If you have any questions regarding swim holidays or swimming events feel free to get in touch.

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.

Swim Safety & Planning

We teach a water safety and rip current awareness courses in the early and late summer season and one of the principles we teach is the following - rips and currents don’t typically drown swimmers…it’s the panic that causes the problem. It’s the individual losing their composure and doing something irrational, like ditching the surf board they’ve been safely lying on and trying to swim in against a rip current…or simply swimming against the same rip for so long that they become exhausted and start to really struggle.

So……planning a swim. You don’t necessarily need to plan your swim, especially if it’s your regular swim and you have a good idea of the conditions. If however, you decide to swim somewhere new, come up with a plan.

Your considerations need to include :

• the state of the tide. Coming in, going out, springs, neaps…typically best swimming on an incoming tide, with minimal tidal movement (neap tide). Particularly if it’s your first swim at that location.

• Lateral movement. Most of the advice we’ll give is based around the sort of conditions that we experience here in Cornwall. In other areas of the country/world you can get strong lateral movement (ie the current runs parallel to the shore), so factor this in and do your research.

• PLAN your route, with an exit strategy. Then come up with a plan B. As mentioned previously, panic can be a big problem. If you can’t get to exit A, you’ll then simply resort to plan B with minimal fuss. That might be an exit further up a beach, around to the next cove…or return to where you entered the water…

• I’ll briefly mention the basics - swimming buddy/spotter, high visibility (tow float etc), you can take a mobile phone with you in a case (test and ensure it’ll get reception). You could also look at something like an EPIRB or personal locator beacon. At the time of writing, they’ll set you back around £200-300 but they use satellite, rather than reception and pin point your exact location. So are awesome, particularly if you want to swim somewhere remote. Might be well worth the purchase if you swim with a big group and are all happy to chip in.

• If you do experience a strong current I’d suggest the following. Stay calm. Think your way out of the problem. If you can’t move forward because of a current, can you go back the way you came or swim to the side and avoid the current? When talking about rip currents, they’re never typically that wide and only generally go out to the back of the breaking waves. So moving to the side of a rip and swimming in without huge resistance is fairly straight forward.

• We have a fantastic coastal rescue service. If you’ve exhausted all other options start waving and shouting for help. It may be embarrassing but the RNLI will have no issues picking up a swimmer in distress. Nearly everyone has a mobile phone these days and someone will more than likely spot you and call for help…this then brings me onto one of my final points.

• If you are attempt a new route or swimming at a new place avoid an early morning or evening swim. If you did get in trouble it’d be far better that people were present and could call for help. Also, if you’re losing light and it starts to get dark, you could be in real trouble!

• Lifeguards are a great resource. If unsure ask. You can also make lifeguards aware of your plans.

• Research, if you do any research make sure you use a reliable source. If you ask a question on say….a social media group, you don’t know who’s responding and their level of experience. I’ve lifeguarded and provided water safety for nearly two decades and quite honestly, am so fed up with people arguing with my advice (clearly from a position of complete ignorance), that I simply don’t bother engaging anymore. Which I think is a real shame. Be careful when taking advice.

• Whilst swimming with a ‘buddy’ is a great idea, ensure you swim with a good buddy! I have some friends that are quite competitive. I’ll often swim with them and they have absolutely no awareness in the water of where I am and what I’m up to. If you’re swimming with someone, actually keep an eye on each other.

• Finally, I swam along the promenade in Penzance last summer by myself and a thought occurred to me. I was swimming at high tide in full view of the promenade for safety reasons. The thought was pretty straight forward and it was the following…if I had a random seizure, passed out or had cardiac event (which is about the only issue I would possibly have that I couldn’t deal with), firstly - would anyone on the promenade even notice? Second, how long would it take them to realise something was wrong with me? Finally, if they jumped in or called the emergency services, how long would that take and do they actually have the ability to either drag me out or administer first aid? I’d probably be face down in the water and I’d be brain damaged or worse within 2-3 minutes. Which begs the question…why am I swimming along the promenade? The point I’m making is that swimming with someone that can take the appropriate course of action should something go wrong, is pretty important. If you swim with someone very regularly, or simply swim regularly it’d be well worth doing some sort of first aid course.

• Following on from the above point is the part about rescue. We were taught this back in my lifeguarding days. If someone is in trouble and you don’t realistically think you can get them out or handle the conditions then you really have to think about whether or not you go in to try and assist. It’s far easier and safer for the appropriate rescue services to rescue and assist one person, than it is for two!

Below you’ll find a great video on rip currents and how they work.

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 :

The Devil's Chimney Cave Swim

We’re fairly certain this cave doesn’t have an official name, so we’ve named it the ‘Devil’s Chimney’. There’s a small, dark opening that could easily be missed and has been at least once by us! From the outside it looks very unimpressive, simply a small dark opening under a large rock. When you swim into the cave it’s quite narrow, it’s dull and not particularly impressive. Once you get into the cave, that’s where the magic. There’s what we like to describe as a chimney that allows light to flood in and suddenly this dark cave is transformed into this bright, rather spectacular space. The light seems to bounce off the seabed and illuminate the whole cave. One swimmer on the last swim we did here summed it up perfectly. We arrived at the cave and she said “is this it!?”. Once she’d gone the whole way through her entire facial expression had changed and she said “…can we do it again!?”.

Before I’m inundated with exact location requests I’ll point out that to get to the cave you need the right conditions and tides. If you don’t do your research you could get in trouble. I won’t be handing out location info in a hurry.

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.