Mawgan Porth Holiday Cottages

Mawgan Porth

You could spend the entire week at this brilliant lifeguarded beach and still crave more. As a family friendly option, you can’t beat it: dunes, rock pools, caves, and two surf schools minutes away — Waves Surf School and The Surf Club Cornwall both run beginner, group and private lessons throughout the year. It’s perfect for tiring dogs out in the winter months (there are no dog restrictions), and ideal for sandcastle building come summer. There’s even a stream that runs down the beach to the sea, perfect for little ones when the sea’s on the rough side.

Lifeguarded? Early May-end of Sept
Dog-friendly? Yes, all year round

Lusty Glaze

Lusty Glaze in Newquay is a little more secluded than its more famous neighbours, notably Fistral or Towan, but it is utterly beautiful. Sheltered by high cliffs, with a fabulous beach restaurant and atmospheric live music sundowner sessions during the summer, Lusty Glaze is a great choice. There’s also a brilliant activity centre on the beach, so whether you fancy surfing, abseiling or dodgeball, there’s something for everyone at this beach.

Lifeguarded? Early May-end of Sept
Dog-friendly? Yes, all year round

Watergate Bay

Watergate Bay is a vast, two-mile stretch of sand on the outskirts of Newquay. Popular with surfers, sun seekers and dog walkers, there’s plenty of room on this beach for everyone. A small village with the same name has formed around the beach, with three good restaurants, including Emily Scott Food – and plenty of surf schools, such as Blue Surf school. There is a car park near the beach, making for easy access.

Lifeguarded? Early May-end of Sep
Dog-friendly? Yes, all year round

Porth Beach

This sheltered stretch of sand is a ‘Seaside Award’ beach, a scheme which recognises beaches throughout the country that celebrate the quality and diversity of the coastline. There is lifeguard cover from mid-May to the end of September, and the wonderful Gwenna Teahouse cafe at one end of the beach, Porth is a perfect family friendly beach.

Lifeguarded? Mid May-end of Sep
Dog-friendly? Seasonal dog ban May-September

Catch Seafood Bar and Grill

Book in for a glorious Sunday roast with a view, stroll in off the beach for a sandwich or book in for a supper with sunset views — the menu at this beachfront seafood bar revolves around fresh fish landed from the local dayboats. The Newquay Bay local lobster is drizzled in garlic butter and comes with sea-salted fries, and there’s an good range of vegetarian dishes too too, with things like of green olive linguine and kitchen garden green tacos on the menu. The large decked terrace just off the sand is the perfect spot for a Catch Kernow Spritz cocktail.

The Kitchen by the Beach

You’ll find this cool cafe at The Park, a beautiful site with a collection of places to stay, from luxury cabins and lodges to yurts and cottages, all tucked away behind Mawgan Porth beach. The bright, colourful, contemporary cafe has a Scandi feel and hosts pizza nights on Sunday evenings, as well as roasts on Sundays — popular so always book! It’s open for breakfast from 8.30 (the Full Cornish comes with local bacon and sausages) whilst dinner dishes include Newlyn fish and chips with chunky tartare sauce. It’s dog friendly, too, and you can watch people splashing in the pool through the picture windows on one side.

Beach Box Cafe

This beachfront cafe in Mawgan Porth is housed in a converted shipping container has been serving up tasty, wholesome food and drink since 2016. The menu includes smoothie bowls and freshly made breakfast baps using Cornish only ingredients, as well as delicious flatbreads, wraps and buddha bowls. They even serve their own freshly made ice cream. They offer a beach picnic delivery service to help you avoid queueing later in the day — order at the box with your beach location (they have a grid map of the beach to help them locate you) and they’ll deliver at your chosen time!

Local food in Mawgan Porth

Mawgan Porth is home to one of the best beachfront food markets, Cornish Fresh, which supports local suppliers and artisan food producers, from fresh bread, pastries and pasties, as well as pantry staples, spirits and wine, plus stone baked takeaway pizzas. It’s a great place to stock up on goodies to take home with you. Newquay is five miles away, and has farmers’ markets, breweries, food stores and bakeries.

Find out more about buying local in with our handy Local Food Guide to Newquay and Mawgan Porth.

Eating out in Newquay

One of the great things about staying in Mawgan Porth is being able to get to Newquay easily for eating out. Having long ago shed its reputation as Cornwall’s party capital, Newquay is now a culinary hotspot, with a number of award-winning seafood restaurants, wine clubs and cocktail bars, vineyards, quirky pop-ups, artisan bakeries and cafes, beachside food trucks and brilliant pubs in and around the town.

To find out where we recommend, take a look at our Newquay Guide for inspiration.

Bedruthan Steps

A 40-minute walk via the coastal footpath from Mawgan Porth will bring you to this National Trust area, a popular spot for stargazing. When the tide is out, you can walk among the giant cliff stacks and ponder the local legend of the giant, Bedruthan. The cliff stacks are said to be his stepping stones for a shortcut across the bay when the tide was in — and whatever the real story of how this dramatic formation came to be, they’re well worth a visit. Finish off your trip with a cream tea at this wonderful cafe overlooking the beach.

Newquay aquarium and zoo

Mawgan Porth may not seem a likely wildlife wonderland, but with Blue Reef Aquarium and Newquay Zoo just a few miles away, animal-lovers will be delighted at the opportunities to get up close and personal with some amazing species. From reef sharks to giant octopi, the aquarium has plenty to see and much more to learn — they do a huge amount for conservation. This is similar at Newquay Zoo, where the staff pride themselves on their dedication to conservation and their breeding programmes. Spot lions, sloths and monkeys at this family-friendly attraction.

Watergate Bay

Just around the headland from Mawgan Porth — an easy 45-minute walk on the coast path — is Watergate Bay, home to a huge expanse of sand and every conceivable kind of water and sand-based sport there is! From surfing and paddleboarding to kite surfing, kayaking, coasteering and boadyboarding, this two-mile stretch of golden sand has it all. And if you’d rather stay on dry land, why not race around the sand on a kite buggy or landboard? There a numerous places to eat on the beach, from Emily Scott’s Restaurant to more relaxed options, such as the Hangout, a converted shipping container tucked into the cliffs above.