Where Crantock is
Crantock Beach is south of Newquay, across the mouth of the River Gannel from Pentire and the south end of Fistral. It is a wide, dune-backed beach, not one of the town coves, and it faces the Atlantic in its own right. The north end, near the river, is known for Bowgie Corner. The short guide describes that wave as powerful, with a current that means constant paddling. The rest of the beach can be a more ordinary beach break, but the rating for the spot as a whole is advanced.
You are not going to wander here from Towan between lessons. It is a separate trip, around the estuary or over the cliffs, and it deserves its own decision rather than being tacked onto a Fistral session.
Swell and wind
Crantock takes west and northwest swell in a similar way to Fistral, because it is not hidden behind Towan Head. Size is often in the same ballpark as the other open beaches, and the river mouth changes the banks from week to week. An easterly wind is offshore on this west-facing sand. A westerly is onshore and messy.
Do not copy a Fistral plan across the estuary without looking at Crantock's own wave height and, just as importantly, at where the water along the shore is running. The chart on this page is for Crantock's coordinates. Fistral can look friendly from Pentire while the river end of Crantock is doing something else entirely.
Tide, current and who it suits
The Gannel empties and fills with the tide, and the water along the north end of the beach can pull harder than it looks. That current is why this page is marked advanced. It is not a learner beach, and it is not the place to try an outside peak because Fistral looked crowded. If you are unsure about reading a rip, surf Fistral between the flags or one of the town beaches instead.
Surfers who already handle hollow beach breaks come for Bowgie when the bank is right, and they stay mindful of the river the whole session. There is no safe tide this guide will pretend to name. The river is stronger on some states of tide and after rain, and weaker on others. If the water is coloured and pushing, leave the river corner alone.
Before you go
Lifeguard cover is listed as summer season. The beach is marked dog friendly, with the usual seasonal signs in the dunes β read them rather than assuming the whole beach is open to dogs all year. Parking is above the beach on the Crantock side, then a walk through the dunes to the sand. That walk gets longer once you are on the beach at low tide.
There is no town promenade and no quick flight of steps in the middle of the bay, so go in with a plan for how you will get back to shore if the current is running. Fistral, on the other side of the Gannel, is the busier and more supervised open beach when you want Atlantic swell without the river mouth.