The Cornish Coast: St Ives' Beaches

Nestled around the charming centre of St. Ives, a smattering of beaches sit rife for exploration. In the centre itself, two beaches bookend a strip of cafes and restaurants. At high tide, Lambeth Walk Beach doesn't exist. But at low tide, it's the town's only year-round dog friendly sand pit. 

Adjacent, and separated by a boat ramp, Harbour Beach was Frankelton's first foray into the world of big sand boxes. He spent 45-minutes running in circles before making friends with a labradoodle and his pawrents, who also provided treats.

Meandering our way down the hill near our B&B, St Ives' arguably best beach lie in wait below. Welcome to Porthmeor Beach, home of a smattering of surf clubs, cafes and eager families with their buckets and spades. 

The ban for dogs on the beach ended here on the 1st of October and so Frank had room to wander. Despite all attempts to get him to take a dip in the 'refreshing' Cornish sea, Frank wasn't having any of it. 

We wandered from one end of the beach to the other and found a path leading up to a small lighthouse abutting a car park. The wind whipped around us but the view in all directions reminded us why people continue to fall in love with St. Ives.

The weather took turns throughout the week and even varied from morning to afternoon.

It even yielded views of tiny, mostly empty coves.

The bonus of temperamental clouds was that we had the many of the beaches largely to ourselves. On Porthminster Beach, Frank found a variety of tennis balls to chase back and forth. Perhaps annoyingly (for them), he got himself in the middle of a beach cricket match deciding that the ball they were batting back and forth would be a perfect source of amusement.

For more human amusement, a beachside cafe yields a wide range of menu choices of the coffee, cake and alcohol persuasions. Very versatile. 

A winning locale all around. Go Cornwall go!