I don’t wish to be dramatic, but Lantic Bay might just be heaven here on Earth.
Honestly I thought nothing would ever beat my favourite beach here in Cornwall, but Lantic Bay has just done exactly that, and I’m not sure how I managed to live so much of my life in this county without visiting it.
As with most of the best and off-the-beaten-track places in Cornwall, I first stumbled across this cove while scouring Google Maps for my next exploration day a couple of years back, and totally forgot about prioritising it once I wrote it down in my Ultimate Cornwall Bucket List post!
Niki and I decided this trip was definitely overdue, so set out on an adventure one weekend to find it.
Now, I’ll admit, from the Truro area (where we’re both based), it is a bit of a trek to this beach. It took around an hour, down some insane country roads, but this is fairly typical for getting to the best and quietest spots, and I can say it was 110% worth it.
We lucked out, because it was supposed to be a bit cloudy this day, but the sky remained a brilliant blue all morning for us, and while it was still cold (a nice and wintry 10 degree celcius), Cornwall was delivering for this trip.
We parked up at the National Trust car park and crossed the road to get to the start of the coast path. The car park was a good size, although no facilities like toilets etc. so just bear that in mind if you visit. As with all National Trust car parks, it’s free for members (I’d always recommend grabbing a membership if you live in Cornwall or visit regularly!) or ÂŁ5 for non-members.
Once on the coast path on the other side of the road, you walk up and over the hill of a field before you can see the coastline. We let the dogs off here but checked first that there were no cows in the field (there’s signage around saying there could be so double check first!) and kept them off lead the rest of the way down to the beach without any issues. It’s steep but no crazy unexpected drops for roaming pups.
No one prepared us for the view once we were got over the hill.
We just had a moment where we looked at each other and were like ‘oh my god, we’ve actually made it to heaven’ đ. I think you’ll probably be able to relate when you see these photos, although honestly even these don’t quite do it justice.
The path down is steep, but there are lots of good points to stop along the way (necessary for the way back up!!) and you’ll want to with a view like that to take in anyway! The last bit has steps all the way down, but again they are steep so I wouldn’t advise this if you have any problems walking, as it is hard-going on the way back up as well, but in all honesty in comparison to some of the insane access points to beaches in Cornwall I’ve experienced, this was a walk in the park!
We made our way down carefully, and found the beach pretty much to ourselves at the bottom.
It was mid-tide, and there was still plenty of beach to go around, and lots of rocks to climb and nearby coves to explore too. The terrain is a fine pebble – not quite sand – but still soft enough to comfortably lie on and relax for the day. And great for finding sea glass too!
We spent a couple of hours here, taking photos, eating our picnic, playing with the dogs and generally taking in the scenery with our minds blown.
We saw a sail boat or two drop anchor in the cove to enjoy the views, and some kayakers exploring around too. The water was the clearest water I’ve seen in a long time, creating a stunning turquoise colour in the shallower lagoons around this bay. Perfect for snorkelling, kayaking, paddle-boarding, you name it.
For us, we just came to enjoy the views. With 10 degrees air temperature (and the icy Atlantic ocean, still thawing from winter), a dip in the sea wasn’t in the cards for us, but we saw a few other bravely venture in. I suppose we were a little bit jealous that we hadn’t brought our swim stuff!
Dogs are allowed all year round here too, and they behaved themselves nicely while we sat. The beach had virtually no seaweed on it; contributing to the crystal clear water, and also great because it meant Pepper wouldn’t spend the whole time eating it like she does usually đ – trust me this is genuinely a consideration I take in when visiting beaches nowadays as I’m just getting bored cleaning up her vomit after each trip.
Anyway, I know I’ll definitely be back here in warmer weather, for a swim and a walk further up the coast path as it looks like there are more stunning little coves to explore along there. I would say I’d bring my inflatable kayaks* but there’s no way I’d be hauling them back up the path to the car, I can tell you that!
The walk back up was very steep, but we made lots of stops, and as I say, it’s no where near as bad as certain other popular spots in Cornwall (if you know, you know) – plus it was much quieter and the roads (although still pretty tight) were not as bad as some. I do truly think this might just be my new favourite beach in Cornwall đ±.
Where’s your favourite beach in Cornwall? Will this be on your bucket list?
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