Fistral, Newquay

how to get there Most direct route is A30 to Indian Queens, follow signs to Newquay. Once in Newquay, Fistral is signposted (beware of the volume of traffic at Indian Queens during holiday periods). At busy traffic times, you may be better coming off the A30 south of Launceston, follow the A395 to the A39, past Wadebridge and on to Newquay.

parking at the beach (£4 all day) or at Little Fistral adjacent (Pay and Display, charges apply 24 hours!)

comments Fistral is probably the most famous of the Cornish surfing beaches, many international surf competitions are held here, Fistral catches the best of the swell which means in winter it can be extremely wild! Lifeguards are human and realisitic on the beach. When the conditions are safe they will allow experienced surfers and bodyboarders to stray outside the flags. They do however keep swimmers and inexperienced body boarders inside the red and yellow flags. There are several places to hire kit from and a couple of beach side schools where in season you can just pitch up and join the twice daily surf lessons. Surf Hire is quite cheap here, a rough guide, £2-4 hour per item, or £5-8 per day for bodyboards, boots, fins, wetsuits, foamies, custom boards - the list is shown in order of price.

Alot of surf forecasts are based on Fistral as are some tide times. Waves at Fistral are often a foot or two higher than the rest of North Cornwall and North Devon.

see www.learntosurf.co.uk for surf forecast and kite report