[Closed] Cornwall - is it as bad as the media are makng out

Errr yes. It’s mental. I live in Holywell, have never seen the beach so busy (I’ve previously lifeguarded here and Perran Sands)
The biggest issue is the attitude of a significant number of tourists. Basically challenging the use of masks and distancing “because we’ve come away to get away from all that”!! I’m not exaggerating I’ve heard it from 3 different businesses. One of the most popular Watergate restaurants Wax even put out a Facebook appeal to people to help get the message across.

I don’t want to put you off, you’ll have a great time but you will need to search out quieter spots and get on the roads early. On quote from the lifeguards at Perranporth was that there used to be sand!

Last week I saw no sign of it being mental in Newquay and the vast majority were in masks, must have kicked off this weekend!

Just come back and I was in Portreath, so near you.
It's only busy if you are a total Emmet and only go to the most obvious honey traps at peak time. I was surfing with a seal at one point and we were very much alone.

Yes.

The tourist places are rammed and even the out-of-the-way places that I went to over the weekend (Towan beach/Porth Farm on the Roseland) are busy. Obviously Perranporth beach in summer is like a shanty town anyway so you'll avoid that, but be prepared for the coast paths and usually relatively quiet beaches to be busy.

Ended up going here this weekend as my daughter really wanted a paddle. This is a tiny beach you have to clamber down rocks to reach, and as you can see it's still busy!

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We went to Devon the week before last, stayed in an apartment in Westward Ho! and spent most days either at Saunton sands or walking out locally from the apartment.

There was plenty of space on the Beaches and most people seemed to be building their windbreak/popup tent isolation castles well apart from each other.

Westward Ho wasn't a ghost town, but it wasn't overrun, you could safely distance from others and get about unimpeded.

But then we managed to get there the week before most schools officially broke up and we certainly didn't visit somewhere as busy as say Newquay. We've got some friend booked in to Newquay in mid-August and I reckon it'll be far busier.

I think it's just going to be a case of trying not to visit the obvious hot spots, and being prepared to just turn around and head somewhere different if you find yourself arriving at a busy venue, ideally go for places that have a pre-booking system in operation.

Just have contingencies and don't expect to be hitting all the major attractions.
Beach Days and and a bit of coastal walking, both with a packed lunch is probably the best idea in Cornwall/Devon right now... (IMO)

Ive just got back from StIves, it was busier than normal and we left the beach one day as it was too crowded at high tide. Avoid middle of the day and it was OK.
I did get a local ask me if you need to use a mask in the coop and she went batshit mental at me as she didnt want to wear one.

Looking at the photos that accompanied the horror headlines, the beaches looked okay, not saying some beaches aren’t rammed, but the photos the papers used looked like there was plenty of room.
Woolacombe 2 weeks ago was fine, we easily had 2 metres around us, we were on the dog friendly bit which is huge.

Just came back from a week at Gwithian sands. Had a day in st ives and a few hours in Falmouth. Godrevy nt car parks were full all the time but plenty of room on the beaches. St ives wasn’t as busy as I’ve seen it before. The waitress serving us our delicious sea food meal at the cellar bistro was very happy that the tourists were back. You need to prebook if you want to eat out and the chi chi places like porthminster kitchen are booked solid all month already. Sennen was pretty rammed but isn’t it always?
Fantastic place and no hassle as long as you are sensible.
Rammed beaches last week

We have friends at Devoran and Falmouth. Both have said it's the busiest they can remember.

To be fair Falmouth was busier than st ives. Seemed like everyone was walking along the same street. Step 50 paces from st ives harbour and it was fine.

I’m off to Portreath on Saturday for a week self catering. Hopefully it’s not too horrendous, but I have made sure to book a click’n’collect slot at Truro Sainsbury’s for Sunday morning!

I'm sure it is busy but I'm getting quite sick of all the papers doing that thing with a very long lens and a side on angle that makes the beach look as full as possible - even in so-called quality newspapers.

Hi Bensales, Atlantic bar is open and doing well, Portreath Arms Tapas was excellent and Chinese worth a punt one night. The sunsets over the over the beach.

A mate runs a recovery garage in N Devon says Friday & Saturday were his busiest ever.

20 mile south bound M5 tailbacks on the AA traffic website on Friday afternoon.

We've gone the opposite way, from Devon to the IoW.....much quieter here!

Sidmouth was rammed last week, encountered multiple grockles who didn't understand the concept of personal space and/or the need to wear masks.

Got back this Saturday from a week in the Bude area, not the busiest I've seen it, or Padstow, Watergate Bay, Instow or Saunton Sands (spent a day at each, amongst others).

Whilst there weren't quite the hordes of people the papers are making out, those that were there don't seem to have got the memo about masks or social distancing (one way systems in shops and around Bude proving very tricky for some!).

As others have said, if your sensible and prepared to put a bit of leg work in then you can have a pleasant time.

I'm here now. Busy enough to create a buzz around town without it feeling dangerously busy.

As far as masks go, I've seen no more maskless idiots down here than back home (Peak District). Turns out Muppets will be Muppets wherever they are.

Public toilets are my only concern - busy, cramped spaces with questionable hygiene.

What scares a lot of the locals and gets them wound up is there is only one main hospital in Cornwall. There is also a Cornish contingent who hate tourists during a normal year so those people are just getting louder.

Some friends just got back at the weekend from a week away, they said the press massively exaggerated it busy but not too bad. Around here it’s the busiest I’ve seen it for a very long time. Some areas are packed crowds but go to the right spots it’s not too bad.

Went to Falmouth / Lizard / Roseland Peninsula at the beginning of July (just after hotels/accommodation had re-opened) to walk 40 miles of the SWCP.

As above, tourists seem to flock to the honey traps so Kynance Cove and Mullion were absolutely heaving, while just along the coast the enormous Porthleven Sands was completely empty.

In Falmouth the town centre was very busy (no one making an effort to keep social distance and the pub gardens were rammed) but our hotel was empty.

Heading down to Exmoor for 4 days of riding on a guided trip tomorrow, we're on a closed campsite (only previous bookings being allowed on) in the middle of exmoor, so think we'll be OK 😀

Met office is giving 31 degrees in Kent Fri/Sat and mid-20's down there, bliss!

At the moment many people are listening to the news and hearing about Leicester, the North West and Greater Manchester and then hearing the accents out and about. Many people have taken the lockdown seriously and have only really ventured out recently coinciding with the arrival of crowds. We've escaped the worst of it so far but I've heard first hand that all NHS leave is cancelled for late Sept and Oct expecting a wave of cases. I have many friends who own holiday accommodation so am not anti tourist (I'm from Caernarfon in North Wales originally) we wouldn't survive without them. They all have experience of people seeming to ignore social distancing including visitors from for example Leicester insisting they are travelling down a day into their additional restrictions. As for those of you commenting about exaggeration I do actually live here! Yes you can find quiet spots and as I said you will have a great time but be prepared to work harder to find those spots. There is a reason the popular places are popular! Other places are less popular, some because they don't have direct access e.g. Nanjizal and the like, others because they are not that nice.
You will find a great welcome and we've managed to get the RNLI to fulfil their commitment to lifeguarding.

try and keep people away.

over the last week we have tried to see friends both on and off the bikes at a distance. we appear to be the only ones trying to keep a social distance.

This.

As for tourist traps. It just goes to show that people are as thick as mince. Bad year for a holiday.

‘Give it a miss this year. Do day-trips to quiet local spots?’
‘Nah, think I’ll drive 240 miles, find a tiny coastal bottleneck with two shops and 2000 others so we can celebrate the joy of holiday’

It is bad. Ma in law lives in coastal town in Cornwall. She and her husband are basically prisoners in their own home since March and looks set to continue u til the next ‘lockdown’. We speak on the phone. She’s a smart person, keeps up with current events and has always been community-minded, politically active, upbeat, drama-less and a force of nature who always tries to find the best in people. As of yesterday she’s advising us to get tins and dry food in for the second wave. Sounds hacked off with it all. I hope that she’s wrong.

It seems significantly busier here in S. Wales - however I think some of it is just down to locals (or localish) people still being furloughed (or working at home flexibly) so having the time for day trips when the weather is nice. There also seems to be the attitude that you need to make the most of things now before we get locked down again

There also seems to be the attitude that you need to make the most of things now before we get locked down again

It’s weird, I saw more people walking on the street here during ‘lockdown’ than I have in 15 years of living here. Much quieter now except for motor-traffic. Probably driving to hotspots and retail parks 👍🏼👍🏼

Father-in-Law lives in Perranporth.

He's telling us that it's very busy, that some people are not wearing masks in shops and that social distancing is a distant memory to some.

To balance that remark - Perranporth is ALWAYS busy at this time of year. The other stuff (masks and distancing) is just people being dicks. That happens all over and is just people, not specifically the people on holiday in Cornwall.

The lack of hospitals in the area would be more of a concern given the population boom that they are currently enduring. If they get a spike in COVID-19 the Cornish are not well placed to deal with it.

i made the mistake of heading over to polzeath for surf late on a thursday evening last week. it was rammed. when i got out of the water at 9.30 there must have still been 100 people in the water. surf again this thursday but i'll do a dawny this time.

dartmoor & west devon is pretty busy although not crazy but the thing I have noticed is the amount of rubbish being left behind everywhere, and the amount of people 'wild camping' in their cars in pretty much every laybay and carpark on the moors.

The lack of hospitals in the area would be more of a concern given the population boom that they are currently enduring. If they get a spike in COVID-19 the Cornish are not well placed to deal with it.

100% this. But do you really think that’s what’s on most people’s minds when they’re packing their icebox and kids/other half in the car for a much-needed break?

My Instagram is rammed full of people heading to the SW over the last few weeks. Pics of the M5 at a standstill etc so all completely normal summer holiday stuff. Apart from its not a normal summer holiday. We were going to be heading down there but no way - spending a few days in an isolated part of the Dales and then at home doing loads of riding etc. Hopefully try and get down there in October.

What scares a lot of the locals and gets them wound up is there is only one main hospital in Cornwall. There is also a Cornish contingent who hate tourists during a normal year so those people are just getting louder.

There is a nightingale hospital in exeter currently seconded to cancer-care I believe.

There is a nightingale hospital in exeter currently seconded to cancer-care I believe.

120 miles from lands end to exeter...

120 miles from lands end to exeter…

Must be further by road Shirley?

Edit : no, aa route planner confirms 120

Feels like twice as far!

no fast miles down here.

Just a small note after listening to R2 just now, we went to a few pubs/eateries during our stay and not one asked for or took any details for track and trace.

We were probably a bit over cautious with masks, hand sanitizer and keeping our distance but it does seem even the local businesses are ignoring government guidelines.

A lot of work to make the roads faster in recent years... but that work can only really be appreciated in the winter!

A lot of work to make the roads faster in recent years… but that work can only really be appreciated in the winter!

as long as you don't want to go south of carland cross, and even then it doesn't take much for the A30 to grind to a halt.

Carland Cross section getting done soon.

Just a small note after listening to R2 just now, we went to a few pubs/eateries during our stay and not one asked for or took any details for track and trace.

I'm astonished by that - been to 3-4 small cafes when I've been out riding in the last couple of weeks, and every single one took my name and number. And probably not because I look devilishly handsome in my lycra.

The whole of the SW is rammed. Dartmoor is heaving with vanlife types. Litter everywhere.

I had a surf early last Thursday at Woolacombe, by the time i left in the middle of the morning, there was a two mile plus queue to get in the car parks.

Looking forward to when they all bugger off.

Woolacombe beach has always summed up the laziness/stupidity of the British. The 200yds nearest the car park rammed, the other 2 miles of beach empty!!

Go to West Wales instead. We just got back from Cardigan area and it was quite pleasant, not really that busy at all.

Dartmoor is heaving with vanlife types. Litter everywhere

i spent ten minutes picking up litter at newbridge car park after my run on monday morning. i could have spent an hour but I had to get to work.

there are four massive commercial sized wheelie bins at the edge of the carpark less than 20yds from where i was picking most of it up.

I can live with the crowds, but I just don't understand the litter thing.

Woolacombe beach has always summed up the laziness/stupidity of the British. The 200yds nearest the car park rammed, the other 2 miles of beach empty!!

i always liked watching the dynamics when there is a low tide in the morning, as those who set up camp further back up the beach try to protect their territory as the tide pushes in and squashes everyone back up to the back of the beach.

Woolacombe beach has always summed up the laziness/stupidity of the British. The 200yds nearest the car park rammed, the other 2 miles of beach empty!!

Always the same at Saunton. Walk 5 minutes down the beach and you have a huge empty beach. Only down side is that your ice cream has melted by the time you walk back to where you've pitched up for the day!

I don't think the beach thing is exclusive to Cornwall from my observations last week on the Moray Coast - lets just say those of a more rotund figure tended to be clustered around the car park (perhaps because they were nearer the burger van) than those that bothered to walk to the other end...

Sunday and Monday took day trips to the Padstow beaches from Plymouth. Don’t visit often but plenty of room on the beaches even with the car parks full by late morning. The issue I found is the life guards with vey good reason keep you pinned into a very narrow bit of water which isn’t much fun when busy.

Woolacombe beach on Thursday, July 30, 2020, Croyde was worse.

As above the honeypot locations will be busy.

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We walked 12miles of the coast path on Sunday, Boscastle & Tintagel were rammed but a mile further on there was hardly anyone.

I'm camping in Croyde this weekend and already regretting the decision. I'm not a people person at the best of times so it could be my idea of hell on earth. Any surfing will have to be done early morning.

We're going next week, camping near Fowey. We'll likely be away from any crowds hopefully anyway as we'll be up in the countryside walking the dog rather than being on the beach. Plus the weather's looking crap, so that'll help keep numbers down 🙁

We're in Hayle next week at a chalet park right on the beach, it's often busy but never that bad , so hopefully will be ok

Forecast looks up & down, Aldi wetsuits for the kids will get some use !

St Ives is a scrum normally, which I'm more than happy to avoid

Booked a day at Tintagel, which is limiting numbers

Possibly use our Tesco vouchers on the Eden project

Taking the bikes so should be easy to get away from it all

Any surfing will have to be done early morning.

It’ll still be busy, and it’ll be busy with people who can actually surf so you’ll have to be on it to get some waves...

I've had a week in Cornwall booked for a while now (between Lizard & Falmouth, we booked a long time ago knowing we wouldn't be going abroad), going in the last week of August. Thinking about cancelling it and going somewhere quieter... not sure if it will have quietened down by then or not, what do stw think?

I believe schools go back at the beginning of September, which is after we're back.

MrsMC calmly announced this morning that she's looking at a weekend in the Lakes for August bank holiday weekend. We avoid the Lakes, Cornwall etc for any bank holiday, whytf would we want to go this year?

Am a local (West Cornwall) it's pretty busy.. St Ives is supposed to be stupidly busy, streets are packed.

Went to St Michael's Mount on Saturday to see a friend who lives there, despite the fact it was shut there were still people walking across the causeway and lingering next to the locked gates like zombies, paying no notice to the "Closed sign".

Even Loe Bar beach (no swimming at all, very dangerous) was busy on Sunday, people with beach stuff, deckchairs etc despite the fact you can't go in the water.

If you're down here, head to a non touristy beach (no shops = less people), and don't take any risks with the sea as I imagine the emergency services are pretty stretched at the moment.

If you've got a choice, probably come another (less busy) time as we've only got Treliske with a handful of beds.

@spicer my experiance when I used to live in the SW was that the last week in august was the busiest week with both the bank hol and the attraction of getting a break jsut before schoools start.

If you can I'd consider going in September instead.. much quieter and often get nice weather

@ferrals thanks for the reply, thats exactly what I'm worried about. September is a no-go due to OH's work, I think I'll look into cancelling and going somewhere quieter instead!

We are based in a major Devon city and decided to stay local in our holidaying last week. We stayed on tiny caravan sites around N. Devon with the exception of one commercial one that was rammed with very little social distancing going on. Most were not using the hand sanitisers and there was only a modicum of mask use in shops (not that we went into many).

We were in Bude for part of one day and it was heaving, as were the canal walks in and the SW path out. The beach wasn't rammed like it could be, but busier than I'd like so we didn't stay.

We walked into Blackchurch Rock beach one day and was surprised  there were others there, but it was really spaced out so no issues.

Only visited local beaches such as Exmouth and Dawlish Warren recently and have seen a massive increase in local kids meeting there late into the evening, however my favourite beach is big enough to have space when we head along later in the day, plus we back the van right up to the walkway so we don't need to access anything else.

As for out and about, there just seems to be more people about, but generally if you are prepared to walk and avoid hotspots it's not too bad from what I've seen.

What we have noticed is people camping who are on first ever trips and have no idea of the general etiquette. Large groups sat together late into the night, music blaring until the "quiet hours" of 11pm-8am, effing and cuffing and generally not appreciating there is an unspoken conduct code in campsites. Never so glad for the recent caravan purchase!!

We're heading oop north to visit family next week and wonder what that will be like.

This thread is useful for realising that you know who some of the people are though, yes you @andy_sweet!

Go to West Wales instead. We just got back from Cardigan area and it was quite pleasant, not really that busy at all.

Don't bother. It's awful. You won't have a good holiday in West Wales. Go to Cornwall, it's far nicer.😉

The idiots ruin it - it was only a matter of time.

Don’t bother. It’s awful. You won’t have a good holiday in West Wales. Go to Cornwall, it’s far nicer.😉

I would stick to Wales - it's just taken a colleague 30mins to do a 5 min journey in Falmouth.

Comments from people who live there and the pic posted above of Woolacombe would have me reaching for the phone to be cancelling. But no, people will continue to add to the . I've said this on other threads but there is still a worldwide pandemic and the only way to get back to normal is not to go and sit on a beach / sit on the M5 / visit a packed part of the country just because you fancy a jolly. The longer scenes like Woolacombe above are common, the longer this sh*t is going to go on.

Thanks all. To be honest I'm stil not sure. We're going with the in-laws (who we currently live with due to being in between house moves) so it's not just us involved in the decision.

As a cornish resident I do feel that this pandemic has seemingly mostly passed us by.

However - as someone who would go away 1 or 2 weekends a month then usually a couple of weeks away a year one in the UK & one abroad somewhere I've not been doing that.
The furthest I've been is during a week off last month we stayed one night on a Shepard's Hut on Dartmoor.

My opinion is the more people who are going away abroad & travelling up & down the country are basically just extending the pandemic for all of us.

The idiots ruin it – it was only a matter of time.

A very small part of Dartmoor that has always been problematic, but has gone crazy the last few weeks. The other 99.9% of the wild camping zone is still there but >500yds from the car...

No long lens shortening here. Just rammed.

the only way to get back to normal is not to go and sit on a beach / sit on the M5 / visit a packed part of the country just because you fancy a jolly

Actually I disagree, even that picture up there ^^^. Quite a few wearing masks, Outdoor transmission still very very low

Indoors, pubs, shops & restaurants
- Pubs especially are the hotspots, Eat out to help out far more likely to be a cause of infection

As unpleasant as tons of people on woolacombe beach is , not a place where you're likely to catch /spread covid

Actually I disagree, even that picture up there ^^^. Quite a few wearing masks, Outdoor transmission still very very low

Indoors

Yes, fortunately I’m sure none of them are ramming shopping centres, service stations, shops, pubs etc

... they just decided that Falmouth/Bude/Penzance etc High Streets would be a nice place to go for a panoramic pandemic stroll 🤪

I get the point & personally avoiding town centres for mindless shopping is a no brainer (pandemic or not!), but there's plenty can be done to mitigate risk; one way systems, hand washing stations, masks etc

M5 was pretty busy on the way down but

St Ives beach looks reasonably busy across the bay, but Hayle beach was quieter than last time we were here

and waves were great for bodyboarding!

Well that was a great week, we spent almost every day at the beach, which was quieter than normal

The holiday park had moved their clubhouse to a clifftop bar, out of a container that was much better as the kids could just run free.

A day cycling on Bodmin was busy in forestry car park but few further out on the woods

We did Tintagel today which is was limiting numbers because we had to pre-book a week in advance. Town was busy but quieter than when we visited 2 years ago & couldn't go up the castle due to a gail

We didn't do many shops, but mask use was 100% & hand sanitizer everywhere, people very good with queing & distancing
Pasties safely bought from takeaway windows etc

Back on Saturday after 2.5 weeks down there in the caravan, the traffic heading south though was bonkers on the A30 and M5 seemed like the queues went from Bristol to Launceston. It was no less busy than a normal summer, and in some cases on the beaches, busier and RNLI / Coastguard callouts are up. We stayed clear of towns unless we had to go or went in the evenings when the masses had gone home. Falmouth was crackers so we didn't stay, Newquay OK first week of August then got much busier - again in and out to return something.Padstow's park and ride wasn't running and I've never seen parking like it when we walked by to the coastal path, every verge etc parked on, so god knows what the town was like on those days. Shops have done a great job in sanitiser provision, one way systems in a lot of cases and limiting numbers in store, also can't try anything on, but do have very good returns policies. Really good to get away but you can have as much or as little contact with others as you want really if you're careful. We were other than food shopping able to keep ourselves away from folks in the main and use facilities in our caravan rather than shared ones on the site, but their cleaniness was very good too.