Skip to main content
CornwallNews

The Best Bude Surfing Beaches (Even the Secret Ones…)

By May 29, 2018August 21st, 2020No Comments

Cornwall is a fabulous county for many reasons and, due to it being an outcrop which juts straight into the Atlantic ocean, our beautiful county is also a magnet for swell and a hot spot for surfing. Our wild and rugged west-facing coastline here in North Cornwall means that Bude surfing beaches are exposed to the incoming Atlantic swells that wrap themselves around the North Cornish coastline. During big winter swells the deep sheltered north-facing coves come into their own, turning stormy SW swells into classy beach break peaks. Here we explore Bude’s best surfing beaches and what makes this North Cornwall surf spot a favourite among surfers who highly rate the crystal waters, epic waves and beautiful scenery.

Five of The Best Bude Surfing Beaches

Crackington Haven 

When the surf is big and pumping at Widemouth Bay or other Bude surfing beaches, Crackington Haven beach usually has smaller waves so good on days when everywhere else is too big. Crackington Haven beach has lifeguard cover from the 7th of July until the 2nd of September (2018) and is one of our favourite surf beaches, not just for its close proximity to Trevigue, but for the fun little rights and lefts which peel into the rip.  If you know the beach and are an experienced surfer, you can use the river to enter the water but beware that it can sometimes bring flotsam making the water seem unclean. However, the quality of the water is routinely checked so fear not! The locals here at Crackington beach are a tight bunch but will be happy to chat as you bob about waiting for waves with the majestic cliffs providing your idyllic backdrop.

Widemouth Bay 

Widemouth Bay is a popular Bude surfing beach with many Bude surf schools operating from the long golden stretch of sand (making it perhaps a little more crowded in the water than most surf beaches near Bude). Surfers will experience a variety peaks from the north to the south end of the beach, including Camel Rock, Salthouse and Black Rock. There’s often waves at Widemouth Bay which is probably what makes it so popular, but newcomers will have to take care of the rocks which are invisible at high tide towards the middle of the beach and the rips at Black Rock. That said, Widemouth Bay gets the best waves between mid- and high-tide so as long as you’re aware of rocks and rips, you’ll enjoy the spilling, heavily barrelling waves.

Summerleaze Beach

Summerleaze Beach has a unique appeal, perhaps because it is less than five minutes’ walk from the centre of Bude which makes it popular with surfers as they can park easily and run across the sand dunes straight into the surf. This sandy beach in Bude has an impressive breakwater which helps to improve the quality and size of the waves and making it a favourable break for surfers. Summerleaze is surfable at all tides and good when every other North Cornwall surf beach is full. We love surfing at Summerleaze, particularly on the bouncy right-handers at mid tide which are equally as suitable for beginners through to more experienced surfers. There is RNLI lifeguard cover from Easter through to September so it’s quite a safe Bude surfing beach – the only thing to be aware of is the rocks in the sea pool which is hidden at high tide; newbies to the area and surfers who aren’t aware of this can often be heard complaining of dings!

A post shared by @justuswandering on

Crooklets

Crooklets is a popular surf beach near Bude and home to Bude surf life-saving club – an organisation which we work closely with and who we count as friends here at Trevigue B&B. This Bude surf beach is good for surfers who love a right, or who love a skate when surf conditions aren’t quite right (there’s also a skate park).  Due to being west-facing, Crooklets break works well in easterly winds and on almost all tides, however be aware of occasional rips and submerged rocks at high tide. At high tide Tower Rock has a shallow wave and there’s Crookie shorey as well so lots of choice for the more experienced surfer here at Crooklets. Our son surf coaches at Shoreline Extreme Sports who are a really mega-friendly small local company, so do get in touch with them if you would like surf lessons or similar!

Northcott Mouth Beach

This National Trust beach has fun little waves created by rocky reefs and is a little-known surf beach as well as a good spot for bodyboarding.  The access is a little tricky (which keeps the big crowds away!), but generally speaking Northcott Mouth beach is a good surf beach near Bude with low tide banks offering decent waves. At low tide the sandy beach completely disappears, but there are no cliffs so you don’t have to worry  about getting cut off! Things to watch out for here (especially if you’re inexperienced) is the rip and the powerful undertow. Surfing at Northcott Mouth can be really fun, but make sure you keep an eye out for the submerged shipwreck too lest your board comes a cropper on its spiky remains.

A post shared by Laura (@laurajwilkins) on

Sandymouth

Sandymouth is a Bude surfing beach which boasts a small swell beachbreak which works best on lower tides. Sandymouth is known for its fast peelers with a bit of power when the banks line up.  Consistency  makes this beach so popular for surfers – it works best with offshore conditions but is not recommended for beginners due to its potentially dangerous rips and currents with bigger waves. This beach is known as one of the UK’s top 5 surfing beaches and it’s easy to see why!

A post shared by Len Parr Ferris (@parrferris) on

Duckpool

Duckpool is a lovely little bay with a righthander around the corner at low tide and a reef break too. However, at high tide the break is onto rocks and a rock section completely breaks it up making it pretty dangerous so take extra care and don’t surf here if you’re inexperienced. At low tide you can see all the beaches along Bude down to Widemouth and Black Rock, which makes for a nice bonus when surfing at Duckpool!

We hope you enjoy our run down of the best Bude surfing beaches and will keep the knowledge to yourselves… we don’t want the waves to be full if we can help it! If you have any secret surf spots in North Cornwall you think we should know about then feel free to share them with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We can’t wait to hear from you…

A post shared by Iain (@iain_explores) on

Comments

comments