Essential Guide to the Seven Bays 2026

So what will it be? Rock-pooling at Booby’s Bay or riding the reef break at Constantine. A post-surf sauna and cocktails at Harlyn, or a sea pool dip and sundowner sessions at Trevone. Snorkelling at Porthcothan, a picnic at Mother Ivey’s, or a swim in the tidal lagoon then live music at Treyarnon. 

Seven bays, seven different days. This is our home stretch of coastline, and we know it well. Here’s what to do, where to eat, and which bay to choose to suit your mood.

The Seven Bays form a necklace of golden beaches strung along the coast just south of Padstow. Starting with Trevone, tucked around the western edge of Stepper Point, they sweep south past the surf mecca of Harlyn and the secluded sands of Mother Ivey’s, before rounding Trevose Head to Booby’s Bay, Constantine, Treyarnon and finally Porthcothan. 

All of the Seven Bays are within a 15-minute drive of Padstow, rewarding beach lovers with a diverse and distinct slice of Cornish coastal life. Come for a week and explore a bay a day, or walk all seven beaches from sunrise to sunset. Follow the coast path from blowhole to lighthouse, linger for lunch in some of Cornwall’s best restaurants, search for shipwrecks and seals, go for a SUP or watch the surf from a sauna. 

Bag one of our holiday cottages close to the Seven Bays, and you’ll have all of it on your doorstep.

Blowhole, Blue Flag, sea pool and surfside hangout 

The first of the Seven Bays from Padstow is the Blue Flag beauty of Trevone Bay – a gently shelving beach surrounded by cliffs and little alcoves. By all means tuck yourself away and soak up the scenery – but there’s lots to do away from your beach towel. 

Follow the South West Coast Path up past the jaws of the Round Hole – an 80-foot collapsed sea cave in the cliff. If the surf’s up you can hire kit from Trevone Bay Stores, and if it’s calm cast away for a kayaking or coasteering adventure. Grab buckets and nets to explore the rock pools, feel the spray from the 80-foot blowhole, and dip in the 25-metre sea pool. Then warm up with a beachside sauna and all-day food and drink at Bruno’s café and bar.

Distance from Padstow:
2.3 miles/ 8 mins drive
5.7 miles walk along the South West Coast Path

Surf, SUP and sauna

The surfing mecca of the Seven Bays, Harlyn’s sandy crescent is well set up for wave riders with surf schools, surf hire and a post-surf café where you can scan the waves over coffee and cake or sundowner cocktails. 

Come summer it’s made for family beach days, with rolling waves for beginners, flat spells for SUPs and swims, and plenty of sand to play ball with the dog. In winter stay warm in the sauna and watch serious surfers take on heavy Atlantic swells, follow the coast path past the remains of an Iron Age cemetery, or duck into The Harlyn for craft ales and a Sunday roast. 

Distance from Padstow:
2.9 miles / 9 mins drive
7 miles walk along the South West Coast Path

Wild swimming, dolphin spotting and the legend of the white witch 

The most secluded of the Seven Bays was allegedly named after a white witch who cursed a local family –  although it’s hard to believe that anything evil was ever spun from this white-sand paradise that drops into deep cerulean water. 

Whether you round Trevose Head or follow the path 15 minutes from the nearest car park, it’s worth every footstep to reach the crushed-shell cove tucked in the shelter of Merope Rocks. Bring picnic supplies, swimmers and a warm layer for later – as you won’t want to leave until the sun sets. 

Distance from Padstow:
4.2 miles / 14 mins drive
8 miles walk along the South West Coast Path

Rockpools, shipwrecks and seals

Head to Booby’s Bay at high tide and you might think there’s little to see but wave-smashed ledges. But wait for the sea to ebb and a magical beach reveals itself: rockpools teeming with blennies and crabs, nooks to hide with a blanket and book, and a shipwreck that surfaces when the storms steal the sand.

When the tide is up, there’s still plenty of wonders. Stroll along the coast path to the neighboring sand dunes on Constantine Bay. Or stand high above the ocean on Dinas Head, where you can look out to The Quies rocks to spot basking seals and soaring seabirds. 

Distance from Padstow:
4.4 miles / 15 mins drive
9.7 miles walk along the South West Coast Path

Sea glass, sand dunes, a reef break and golf

Hunt for sea glass and shells along the wide, surf-lashed sweep of Constantine Bay, grab your boards and ride the waves, or roll down giant dunes before staking out a sheltered spot for a barbecue. 

One of North Cornwall’s finest surfing beaches, there’s a reef break for experts, as well as sandy-bottomed peaks along the beach. Hire boards and wetsuits from Constantine Bay Stores, kickback and watch from the sand with a barista brew from Quies Coffee, or swap the sand for the green at Trevose Golf Club. 

Distance from Padstow:
4.3 miles / 13 mins drive
10 miles walk along the South West Coast Path

Tidal pool, family beach days, and live music

Treyarnon is a natural family beach – space for sandcastles and windbreaks, waves made for bodyboarding fun, and an ice cream hut on the cliffs. But that’s not all. The highlight is the tidal pool tucked into the mussel-clad rocks: find it as the tide ebbs, make a splash, then flop out on the warm rock like a seal to dry off. 

When you’re hungry, bag a table at the Treyarnon Bay YHA for hot chocolate, cold beer, sea views and live music through the summer months.

Distance from Padstow:
4.9 miles / 15 mins drive
10.5 miles walk along the South West Coast Path

Snorkelling, a smugglers’ cove and scenes from Poldark

Pack your mask and snorkel, pick up Da Bara pastries from Porthcothan Bay Stores and pad to this pristine beach that starred as Nampara Cove in the BBC’s Poldark. 

At high tide it’s a beauty – but as the water ebbs the adventures stretch far beyond a picnic in the dunes. Seek out the emerald horseshoe pool, trace the cliffs south to the secluded smugglers’ cove, and push on further to snorkel between a huddle of islets that form a natural lagoon. When you’ve had enough of the beach, follow the lanes inland for wood-fired feasts and a little animal love at Old Macdonald’s Farm. 

Distance from Padstow:
5 miles / 15 mins drive
12.5 miles walk along the South West Coast Path

On and beyond the sugary sands of the Seven Bays await some of Cornwall’s finest foodie hotspots, where you can fuel up for the beach on ingredients plucked from the surrounding coast and countryside. Whether you want a lobster lunch or street food by the sea, here’s where to eat and drink: 

Switch the beach for country-house elegance at The Pig at Harlyn, and feast on a menu sourced within 25 miles – much of which is picked from the impressive kitchen gardens. On summer’s day you can’t beat a long lunch in their more laidback Lobster Shed – the name says it all. Closer to the water, The Harlyn keeps things local too, with fresh catch and Cornish-reared meats on the flames, paired with craft ales. 

Don’t want to dust the sand from your toes? Head to Beach Box at Harlyn for an all-day, year-round menu by the waves, from breakfast boxes and Da Bara bakery goods to loaded burgers and jacket potatoes. And if you want to carry the beach vibes long into the sunset, Bruno’s at Trevone and the YHA at Treyarnon accompany good food with live music on the terrace in the summer months. 

While there’s plenty of Rick Stein’s restaurants to choose from in Padstow itself, for just-off-the-beach family dining try his country pub – The Cornish Arms in St Merryn. With a huge beer garden and spacious interior, it’s the perfect pit-stop for proper pub food after a day on the beach. Also in St Merryn, Reggie’s authentic family recipes from Mumbai will warm you up from the inside out in an intimate and sociable setting – just what you need after a day of saltwater adventures in the Seven Bays.

You don’t have to wander far to capture the drama of the Seven Bays from cove-level to clifftop vistas. The walking here is as rewarding as the beaches, so grab your camera, don your walking boots and strike out beyond the shoreline. Trace the South West Coast Path between Padstow and Trevone, taking in the collapsed sea cave of the Pepper Hole and keeping your eyes peeled for buzzards and seals along the way. 

Most of the family will manage the relatively easy 3.5-mile loop around Trevose Head from Constantine – detour onto Dinas Head to admire the iconic lighthouse and pause for a picnic on the sheltered sands of Mother Ivey’s Bay. If you prefer a longer walk, stretch it out from Constantine to Harlyn, looping back across countryside past the Pig at Harlyn and Trevose Golf Course. 

For a really easy walk with little ones in tow, stroll from Constantine to Treyarnon, seeking out the tidal pool in the rocks for a family dip as the tide ebbs. Porthcothan to Treyarnon is another easy 3.5-mile loop, with all the drama of smugglers’ coves, sea-sculpted cliffs and seabirds soaring in the thermals. 

A bay a day or a week in one bay… book your holiday cottage in North Cornwall and discover Padstow’s Seven Bays for yourself. With a choice of properties at or close to all of the famed seven beaches, you’ll ve spoilt for choice for amazing places to stay on this specacular stretch of coast.