Watergate Bay
Watergate Bay
4.5
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  • Mary C
    Combe St Nicholas, United Kingdom32 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Huge beach with a good range of facilities. Very beautiful.
    Possibly the nicest Cornish beach we have ever visited. Stumbled across a cliff top car park for the beach with kiosk selling food and drinks and gently sloping path down to the beach. Plenty of facilities and an opportunity to explore rock pools at the end of this huge expanse of yellow sand. If, like us, you aren’t too keen on crowds, this beach is large enough to escape and find hidden corners to sit and enjoy the sound of the roaring waves. Lifeguard present. Lots of surfing school activity and large rolling waves perhaps making it unsafe for children or less strong swimmers but great for paddling and wave jumping. Stay safe and be mindful of the tides and not getting cut off around the rocky areas.
    Visited July 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written July 12, 2024
  • Matthew Sendall
    St Agnes, United Kingdom6 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Very beautiful and looked after beach
    Beautiful long stretch of beach , lively waters surrounded by tall cliffs! It also has a couple of caves! Probably the best beach in Cornwall, very relaxing and time really flew by here. I did not visit the restaurants here but it looks as though they have great sea views, looking over the beach. Perhaps next time!
    Visited July 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written July 23, 2024
  • Michael O
    40 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great beach day
    Great beach for boarding & surfing. Very busy on the day of our visit with family , strong winds created great conditions for waves for two grandchildren. Life guards did excellent job during tricky sea conditions. Nearest carpark was full , as our visit followed the broadmasters event we managed to park on the festival field with a short walk to the beach although rather steep uphill on our return. Not sure if this car parking is available any other time.
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written August 14, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles868 reviews
Excellent
652
Very good
164
Average
33
Poor
10
Terrible
9

upchuckSurrey
Surrey81 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021
Great beach, shame that the restaurant on the beach is closed, there are a couple of vans one doing cakes, crepes and coffee. They often dont do crepes no matter what time of day you go. There is a pizza takeaway. Public toilets nearby that you have to pay 20p to use
Written August 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

places2seeplaces2go
England, UK6,489 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2020
Stayed in North Cornwall for a week in October2020 & just catching up with reviews.
Last visited Watergate Bay over 10years ago & had forgotten just how stunning it is.
Visiting in October it was fairly easy to park.Summer months must be a completely different matter!!!
The beach was quiet, the tide a long way out. We had a perfect walk exploring the beach.
We were there in October & the area we walked was all dog friendly.
Fabulous expanse of beach with amazing rocky cliffs.
Loved it & can see why it is so popular.
Written January 12, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

festivegirl
Weston super Mare, UK12 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Couples
We were really looking forward to our stay here as we had looked at the hotel many times. It was our 20th wedding anniversary so we decided to treat ourselves.

When we arrived we were shown to our gorgeous room with a balcony and we felt that all was going to be good and relaxing.

Our first meal was in one of the beach restaurants and they surprised us with a glass of fizz to wish us a happy anniversary. It was a lovely touch and made the evening special.

Sadly after this everything went downhill.
The hotel was clearly fully booked and it was so busy, uncomfortably so. The quiet areas of the hotel were crowded with not many places to sit and enjoy the hotel. There was a lovely lounge downstairs but it was full with families/children/ prams.

My husband wanted to watch a big rugby game and went to the room to watch it. I decided to try again and took my book downstairs to the ‘quiet area’ but there was nowhere to sit. I went back upstairs and looked into the restaurant and a lovely lady came out to ask if she could help. I explained that I needed to sit somewhere and that I couldn’t find a space. She kindly checked and found a seat by the window, I ordered a glass of wine and settled with my book at last.

I had only been there for around 10mins and I could feel someone hovering. I looked up and said ‘you need the table don’t you and you need me to move’ the lady apologised and said that her colleague felt embarrassed and didn’t want to ask me to move. I moved off the table and was left with an unfinished drink and nowhere to sit. No attempt was made to find alternative place for me. I felt embarrassed and in the way.

Breakfast the following morning was like being in a zoo. Kids everywhere not being properly supervised and food all over the floors. All the staff until that point were lovely but the breakfast staff were grumpy and understaffed. We heard another staff member swearing and moaning about another staff member.

The breakfast layout did not flow and there were no plates, not much cutlery and my coffee was cold. They brought me another and then just left the cold one on the table and no apology. Don’t need to go on…..however I have many friends with children and they would not enjoy that breakfast room any more than we did. Just because there are children to be catered for, you cannot use that as an excuse for the place to be a tip. You have to have some boundaries and respect that there are other people using the hotel.

We fed back our concerns about what happened to me on the Saturday and the staff were lovely and apologetic. However this doesn’t take away the memory that what was supposed to be a special landmark for our marriage. We would not return and we were glad to leave for some peace and quiet.
Written July 24, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chris B
Maldon, UK112 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2021 • Couples
If you’re looking for amazing surf, this is a great place to go. Perfect for both surfing and bodyboarding. Having been coming here since I was a kid so will always be a favourite. Only downside is there is literally one place to get food here (apart from the posh dine in restaurants) and it’s literally just muffins and crepes both of which are crazy overpriced. (£3 for a muffin smaller than a tennis ball). If you’re looking to go to the beach and have a bit of lunch, make sure you bring your own food!
Written September 20, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

WK
5 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022 • Couples
Left car in car beach car park very tight spaces to find someone had reversed into my car obviously trying to get out £200 bill to get it repaired. Likely the red Vauxhall van parked next to it. No note left
Written August 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kev M
London, UK186 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021 • Family
Visited here many times before and would rate this beach as one of the best in Cornwall especially for surfing and space to sit . The beach is massive and there are a few shops to buy beach type equipment and three restaurants . There is also a couple of places to buy coffees . This has got far busier than when I first visited many years ago but there is quite a bit of parking to rear of beach which is pay and display a scan vdd we paid for by app. There is a surf school here and the only thing to be careful of are the rip tides.
Written July 27, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Michael O
40 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Family
Great beach for boarding & surfing. Very busy on the day of our visit with family , strong winds created great conditions for waves for two grandchildren. Life guards did excellent job during tricky sea conditions.
Nearest carpark was full , as our visit followed the broadmasters event we managed to park on the festival field with a short walk to the beach although rather steep uphill on our return. Not sure if this car parking is available any other time.
Written August 15, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jim Busher
Hill Head, UK360 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021 • Family
This is without a doubt my favourite beach in Cornwall. As a longboard surfer there is so much room to find space on the long bay. The waves work on most days and there are great RNLI lifeguards to provide space to learn to surf it for swimming and bodyboarding. Good eating options with coffee and pizza pop up shops and The Beach Hut. A nice shop with some good beach activity options including boards and wetsuits at very reasonable prices. So much space so you never feel crowded if you move away from the steps on to the beach. Having been visiting for 30 years and will be back again.
Written August 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Nathan
Chiswick, UK224 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2020 • Couples
Hiked from Mawgan Porth to Watergate bay which allows stunning views over the bay, coastline and cliffs. The beach is huge with plenty of caves to explore as well as being dog friendly. Like most beaches in and around Cornwall there are plenty of surfers and body borders, with the lifeguards based on the beach. There is currently some works being done on the restaurants/shops/hotel upon the walk down to the beach, which when completely will definitely improve the beach front. Parking is widely available but not particularly cheap. A gem on the hill down to the beach is ‘Cub Coffee’, a one man band selling tea/coffee/soft drinks which provides a great relief after a hike or a long walk along the beach. Definitely one of the better beaches we visited along the Cornwall coastline.
Written October 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Krzysztof
London, UK55 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020 • Couples
This place is stunning. I wasn’t to convinced at first but at the end it blown my mind. We drove there from Newquay just before you approach the bay driving downhill there is a massive parking spot on a left on a grass area I think for surfers and it looks to be free of charge. Down at the bay the parking places are very busy and very awkward. Also it looks like just on top they have drive in cinema which I did not know otherwise would have tried. Open on Friday, Sat and Sunday. I am sure must have look stunning at the evening. So take the coast walking path from the parking words Porth Beach if you get nice weather like we did trust me you won’t regret it. It will be actually one of the memories you won’t forget.
Written August 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Watergate Bay - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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