Beach Guide: South West

North Devon is now fairly easy to get to along the A361 Link Road from the M5, but in the summer the road through Barnstaple to the main beaches can be a nightmare. The beaches of N. Devon are generally sandy and some are good swell pullers. They are fairly close to the Bristol Channel, so all have big tidal ranges. This means that large areas of sand are exposed at low tide which is perfect for land-based forces-of-nature sports. In general, although fairly consistent for waves, the N. Devon area will be slightly smaller than further along the north coast into Cornwall, but a lot bigger than at the beaches along the Bristol Channel coast.

For completeness I've duplicated a few of the beaches from the Bristol Channel section here as strictly speaking they are in Devon.

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North Devon Lynmouth Woody Bay Combe Martin Ilfracombe Lee Bay Barricane / Combesgate Woolacombe Putsborough Croyde Saunton Crow Beach Instow Westward Ho! Buck's Mills Spekes Mill

The seaside town of Lynmouth (famous for a catastrophic flood in 1952) nestles at the base of several steep hills and looks out across the Bristol Channel. The sea front has all the usual seaside shops and also a funicular railway to the village of lynton at the top of one of these hills. The River Lyn tumbles down the hills and out into the Bristol Channel right in the middle of Lynmouth and it is here that several well know and pretty good waves break. It takes a large swell for Lynmouth to work, but when it does it can get pretty busy (especially when the beaches of N.Devon are too big). Theres a left hander that breaks off the rocks to the west of the rivermouth. At low tide this is often the best, biggest and fastest wave in Lynmouth There are usually two other lefthanders in Lynmouth, one into the river mouth and one to the east of the river mouth. At high tide there can be a nice right-hander breaking into the river mouth as well. (I've actually scored some amazingly fast, long rides on this wave before now). To get to the line up either jump into the river mouth (from the steps on the wall) at high tide and let it take you out, or paddle out from the pebbly beach just to the West of the river mouth. Parking is available along the seafront or in the car parks in town.

Woody Bay is a small rocky and sandy bay nestling within some amazing scenery of the Exmoor National Park. The steep hills that surround it are densely wooded and contain lots of pleasant walks. Access is by small country lanes, from the A39 follow signs for Martinhoe and then Woody Bay. Not really a froces-of-nature sports destination, but a nice little hideaway from the hectic world outside.

The little rocky beach of Combe Martin is not particularly inspring, although there are plenty of rockpools to explore. The town of Combe Martin though has quite a few pubs and I seem to remember doing a strange wheelbarrow pub-crawl here once (an annual event I think??). Theres also a small wildlife park here. Parking can be problematic in the summer, but usually its OK. Not really a forces-of-nature sports beach, but worth a quick stop if you're exploring this bit of coastline.

More information coming soon...

More information coming soon...

Barricane Bay, which is also known as Combesgate is the small rocky cove at the northern end of Woolacombe. The sand here is made almost entirely of shells, many of which are derived from the tropics. The rocks have numerous rock pools and in general this beach is much quieter than nearby Woolacombe. There can also be some nice peaky waves here at low tide. Easterly winds are offshore.

There is car parking available near the beach and a small shop just behind the beach. Other amenities are available in Woolacombe.

Woolacombe Beach is a two and half mile long sandy beach, backed by sand dunes. At its northern end is the village of Woolacombe which has all the amenities you could need, including, pubs, clubs, holiday camps, B&B's guest houses, hotels, shops, cafes etc. You can even take a tractor ride to see the seals off Morte Point, organised by the National Trust and during the summer there are bouncy casltes, train rides and other entertainments for the children. There are a few surf shops and a thriving surf community here. The loal surf clubs and surf-lifesaving clubs organise regualr contests and demonstration events. During the summer months the beaches are patrolled by professional lifeguards.

The surf here can be good at any state of the tide and are generally long-board style mellow beach break waves. There can be some good right-handers off the rocks at the northern end of the beach around mid-tide. It can get quite busy here in the summer and the lifeguards maintain a strict zoning policy. This means it can be well worth walking south along the beach for 5 minutes to find less crowded, but equally good quality waves.

The beach is also suitable for winsurfing, although most people tend to windsurf at nearby Saunton. Kitesurfing is fairly popular at Woolacombe, and the sands at low tide can be OK for kite-buggying or kite-mountainboarding, although the sand can be soft in places and is soft at the top of the beach. Once again Saunton is much more popular for these land based forces-of-nature sports.

There are car parks in the town of Woolacombe not far from the beach.

Putsborough is at the southern end of Morte Bay and connects with Woolacombe beach to the north. It is accessed by heading north from Croyde. This beach is relatively undeveloped, with a large grassy car park overlooking the beach and a small cafe/shop/hire shop on the steps down to the beach. The steps are quite steep and the rocks at the bottom can be slippery, but there is a slipway down to the beach behind the car park. The surf here can be excellent, with decent clean beach break waves, Putsborough is the place to head for when Saunton and Croyde are big and blown out as the headland of Baggy Point protects it from SW winds. Unfortunatley most of the people who surf at Croyde know this, and Putsborough can get quite busy on such days, with all sorts of water craft out in the surf. It can also be quite a paddle once the waves get to 6 foot or more and the rip that runs along the rocks at the southern end of the beach isn't always a great deal of help. Its a worthwhile effort though as the wave can be really nice, especially as the tide get higher. Other forces-of-nature sports aren't so popular here.

Putsborough can also be a nice place to chill out on flat days and the walk along the beach to Woolacombe is almost as nice as the walk along the cliff tops of Baggy Point to Croyde.

Croyde is the surfing capital of North Devon. Overcrowding is a major problem here, so if you don't like sharing your waves, head elsewhere. The village of Croyde is pleasant enough with a few pubs, some touristy shops and the odd restaurant. Closer to the beach are some large holiday parks, log cabin accommodation and large car parks. Croyde used to be quite a sleepy little village but is now really a full blown resort, with all the usual amenities.

As far as forces-of-nature activities go, surfing is king at Croyde. There are there breaks in the bay:

Croyde Reef is found at the northern end of Croyde Bay and is best accessed by prking in the nearby National Trust Car park. It needs quite a big swell to work, but when it does, the wave here breaks in shallow water over a rocky reef, forming a fast, hollow initial bowl section and a pretty intimidating take off. Don't surf here if you don't know what you're doing!.

Croyde Beach Although only a series of beach break waves breaking on sandbanks, the waves here can pack more of a punch than you would expect. This is especially true at low tide when a few of the sandbanks can hold some extremely fast hollow waves. High tide is a mcuh more mellow affair. The topography of the andbanks can produce some pretty strong rips at Croyde as well which can be useful to help you out once the swell starts to increase in size, but can also catch the unwary out, so if you don't know what you are doing take care. The beach is patrolled by professional Lifeguards during the summer and they enforce a strict zoning policy for surfers and bathers. It is possible to kitesurf or windsurf from Croyde Bay but you would be much better off heading to Saunton where the crowds are less and the conditions better. Parking and other amenities are available (at a cost) just behind the beach.

Downend Point The third break in Croyde is found on the rocks at the southern end of the Bay and is overlooked by the tight bend on the road from Saunton to Croyde. The wave here is a righthand point break that works in a deent sized swell at low tide, preferably with an Easterly wind. If you are lucky you can get some nice long walls of water here. Entries and exit to the water are difficult from jagged rocks and the peak can shift around unexpectedly. Again, not a wave for the inexperienced.

The long west facing sandy beach of Saunton is much ender-rated as a surfing wave and therefore remains much less crowded than nearby Croyde. This is only relative though as there can still be literally hundreds of surfer out here on a given day. The waves are generally fairly slow, mellow waves, perfect for longboards or for beginners. That said, there can be some nice shortboard waves off the rocks to the north of the beach too. Saunton can get huge on occasion and if you can manage the imense paddle to get out the back you can catch some pretty meaty waves here. The rip along the rocks will certainly help you on your way, but it can be ridiculously strong when the swell is big. Many people jump off the rocks once it gets above about 5 foot to reduce the amount of paddling required. On smaller, crowded days it is definately taking a 10 minute walk south along the beach and finding yourself a less populated peak.

Saunton is also the place to head to in North Devon for windsurfing, kite-surfing, kite-buggying, kite-mountainboarding, land-yatching etc. The tide goes out a long way here and it can be quite a walk to the water for the windsurfers, but for the land based activites this provides huge areas of flat, hard packed sand. Easterly winds are offshore, so the prevailing SW's produce good cross-onshore wave-sailing in generally slow breaking, mushy waves.

Parking is plentiful just behind the beach and there are toilets and a shop available in the car park. Professional lifeguards patrol the beach in the summer.

On days when the forces-of-nature aren't being kind to you, then just head off and explore the sand dunes of Braunton Burrows. I've spent many a day wandering around these, jumping off the flag-pole dune etc.

The Taw-Torridge estuary open out into Bideford Bay between Saunton and Westward Ho! The estuary formed by thes Taw and Torridge rivers is pretty big and provides some good flat water blasting windsurfing or kite-surfing conditions a couple of hours either side of high tide. Crow Beach is a suitable launching point into this estuary and a pleasant beach in its owb right. To find it, as you come into Braunton from Barnstaple, take the left hand turning by the pedestrian crossing, past the Chapter surf shop. The turn right off this past the Tiki factory toward Velator Quay. A little way along this lane is a small toll road to Crow Beach. You can park just behind the beach within the dunes.

On good days with a decent Westerly wind it is possible to sail across the estuary to Instow.

Instow is a beach within the Taw/Torridge estuary that provides ideal conditons for flat water blasting windsurfing or kite-surfing. it is also popular with dinghy sailors and jet skiers. It is only sailable a couple of hours either side of high tide and although suitable for beginners in lightwinds, they should be aware of the currents.

There are small shops, pubs and cafes in the village and parking close to the beach. The town of Bideford is nearby for other facilities.

Westward Ho! has a long sandy beach with a pebble storm bank behind it. The beach faces West an is therefore exposed to most swells hitting this part of the country. The waves aren't usually as well defined as at Saunton though and definately not as good as Croyde, but its still a good place for a surf. I have seen it absolutely firing, but didn't have my board with me (typical!). It nevers gets that crowded as it is usually only surfed by locals. The shallowly shelving sand remains pretty flat meaning that there are few distinct peaks, although, sandbars can form and the quality of this beach break improves at these times. Kitesurfing, windsurfing, kite-buggying and other land based forces-of-nature sports are also all possible at this beach although for some reason it is never as busy as Saunton.

Buck's Mills is not really a secret spot, but it isn't that well known and not very often surfed. The beach itself is a rock-strewn sand and shingle beach with a rocky outcrop extending out to sea. With a big swell the rocky outcrop known as 'The Gore' can hold a nice left-hander at low tide. The beach faces north, so Southerly winds are offshore and the wave is surfable in a SW. The village itself is nice, with thatched cottages nestling within a wooded valley. Limited parking is available in the village or in the forest car park just up the road.

Another of my favourite beaches this one. I won't tell you exactly how to get there, but its not that difficult to find. The beach itself is rocky and shingle with a little bit of sand. Access isn't easy and it usually remains fairly quiet. There are no facilities nearby. Spekes Mill can however have a wave when everywhere else is flat. The wave is a right-hander that breaks over a rocky reef. Its definately a spot worth checking, and even if it is flat Spekes Mill is a cool place to chill out and enjoy some solitude. I once got stuck here for a couple of days after driving all the way down the little lane to the cliff top car park, only to find the battery in my van drained when I returned to it, so I had to stay there until a helpful passerby came along a couple of days later!! Not a bad place to be though, and I didn't have to be anywhere.

Actually in North Cornwall this one, but I'll include it here as it fits nicely on the map. Sandymouth is a long sandy beach at low tide, but at high tide the water can come right up to the shingle bank or rocks at the top of the beach. Its a popular beach with a few caravan parks on the road leading to it, so it can get crowded in the summer with all forms of surf craft on the water. Parking is available in a car park at the top of the cliffs above the beach, its then a bit of a walk down the cliff path to the beach. Facing west on this exposed stretch of coastline, Sandymouth does receive a fair amount of swell and there can be some nice peaks breaking on the sandbanks all along the beach. Access isn't great for windsurfing, but it is fine for kite-powered sports, although the winds can be alittle gusty thanks to the cliffs backing the beach.