Fistral Beach - North Cornish Coast
Cornwall Beaches > North Cornish Coast > Fistral Beach
Newquay, if not Cornwall's, most popular beach and at the very heart of the British surfing scene.
The beach is a wide expanse of golden sand with the headlands of Pentire and Towan to the south and north respectively. On the Towan headland, overlooking the beach, is the imposing victorian bulk of the Headlands hotel.
Fistral is often dived up into three areas: South Fistral, the main beach and Little Fistral. The first two are fairly self explanatory, Little Fistral is the norhtern most part of the beach and is only really there at low tide.
directions:
Fistral is fairly well sign posted so follow the signs. It's generally easier if you enter Newquay from the west.
For South Fistral follow signs to Pentire. You can usually park on the road above the beach and walk down the steps
Fistral Beach map: Drag the map with your mouse to navigate and use the + and - buttons to zoom in and out.
parking: There is a 250 space car park at Fistral - the charges vary throughout the year
Surfing at Fistral Beach
As the UK's best known surf beach and birth place of surfing in Britain Fistral has a lot to live up to. The spotlight on Newquay's premiere surf beach has often led to people being dismissive about the actual quality of the waves - don't beleive the hype! Fistral really is one of the best beach breaks in Cornwall capable of producing powerful, hollow waves and working under a variety of conditions.
Facing WNW means Fistral picks up a good deal of any north coast swell running. It is also capable of holding it - there are often surfable waves here at 6-8ft and when it gets really huge there's always the Cribbar! As with all beaches the quality of the waves is dependent on the quality of the sand banks. Fistral seems to have fairly consistently good banks.
The beach works through all states of tide, except for Little Fistral (at the northern end) which only really exists at low tide. Little Fistral usually picks up a little more swell than the rest of the beach so can be a good call.
Perhaps the biggest negative aspect of surfing at Fistral is the crowds. As surfing becomes increasingly popular, Newquay and in particular, Fistral, are baring the brunt of this. On small summer days it's probably a good plan to try somewhere else. It does quieten down a lot in the winter, but not as much as it used to so you'd be pretty lucky to score epic Fistral to yourself.
At the northern end of Fistral in front of Towan head is the Cribbar, Cornwall's legendary big wave spot. Unlike many potential big wave spots around the coast the Cribbar has been surfed, and at over 20ft. Only a handful of surfers have braved the monster that is the Cribbar. The first were Jack Lydgate and visiting Aussie surfers Johnny McIlroy and Pete Russell back in 1966
webcam: Fistral Beach surfcam
Alternative Fistral Beach webcam
Dogs: No dogs (Easter to October)
facilities: The northern end of Fistral is awash with facilities including the Surf Centre, toilets, cafes, surfboard and wetsuit hire and a nearby golf course
Nearest town: Newquay