Being on the Devon / Cornwall border makes the beaches of both the south and north coast of Devon and Cornwall easily accessible.  Having said that,  we tend to head north to the Cornwall coast for our favourite beaches.  These are five of our favourites :-

Trebarwith Strand is a fantastic little beach on the north cornwall coast with a cafe,  pub and surf lessons should you wish to learn the sport,  there are great pools for crabbing and for small children to paddle in.  Make sure you visit on a low tide to make the most of the beautiful beach,  on a very low tide you can even collect mussels for your supper. 

Sandymouth is a wide stretch,  as its name suggest of sandy coastline on the north cornwall coast to the east of Bude.  A national trust treasure with a wonderful little coffee shop and life guards during peak season This beach allows dogs and again is best to visit at low tide.  Take a walk along the coast path to the neighbouring beaches towards Bude for a dramatic view. 

Crackington Haven is a pebbly beach to the east of Boscastle and Tintagel,  it has a lovely cafe and a pub and parking very close to the beach.  There are numerous rock pools which are great for crabbing and general rock pooling activities,  try stacking the pebbles in to towers.  There is a fantastic walk along the coastal path towards Bude to the East where you have a dramatic look out over the sea.  A great spot for a sunset lookout.

Strangles Beach is very remote and needs a hike to get to,  it takes around 30 minutes from the nearest car parking bay and involves a shimmy down a rope for the last part.  With caves and stacks it is a dramatic sandy beach.  Absolutely no facilities so take your picnic with you,  be careful in the sea as there are no lifeguards here.

Widemouth Bay to the west of Bude is a perfect surfing beach,  a wide stretch of sand perfect at any tide level,  one end of the beach is dog friendly the other not.  Great for sunsets,  cafes,  toilets and life guards and surf lessons should you wish too.