Swimming holiday accommodation assistance

For 2025 we’re hosting a number of swimming holidays in the west Cornwall area. We love west Cornwall for the simple fact that we have countless world class swimming options and coastline that points in every direction of the compass! Since 2015 we’ve held just one swim in a lake (and it’s a beautiful lake), due to a lack of safe sea swimming options! You can almost always find somewhere out of the wind or swell…if the weather gets a little wild.

Booking a holiday is very straight forward. A click of a button in some cases. So over the course of this blog I’m now going to take you through a few more of the logistics.

HOLIDAY :

SLOW, SHORT & SOCIAL HOLIDAY. WEST CORNWALL. (JUNE 3-5). CLICK HERE DETAILS/BOOKING

SLOW SWIMMING HOLIDAY, WEST CORNWALL / LIZARD AREA… (JUNE 10-12). CLICK HERE DETAILS/BOOKING

SLOW SWIMMING HOLIDAY, WEST CORNWALL (JULY 8-10). CLICK HERE DETAILS/BOOKING

TRANSPORT

Cornwall Airport (Newquay), covers routes to a number of domestic city airports and some international ones. More info - CLICK HERE

Trains stop at Penzance. There’s also the ‘sleeper’ from London to Penzance.

Car - drive to Cornwall.

CAR & TRANSFERS

You will need wheels to get from swim to swim. You can drive down or get the bus/train to Penzance and hire a car.

EUROPCAR (from Penzance train station) - a quick search and you could get a small car from around £50 per day.

ENTERPRISE (Long Rock) - cheapest vehicle from around £120 for a long weekend. Up to 9 seater vehicles are also available from £450 (ideal if you come down as part of a group).

Companies like KAYAK are also showing availability and come in at aeround £100+ for a long weekend.

* We also encourage car shares, where possible. This could be an option with other guests, once here.

ACCOMMODATION

BUDGET :

YHA Hostel

Tremorvu Campsite (5 miles outside of Pz)

Arch Lane Campsite (outskirts of Pz & bargain price). Limited opening season

Mousehole Camping

MID-RANGE :

Kenegie Manor

The Coldstreamer

Glamping @ Foxglove Field

The Beach Club

The Queens Hotel

Keigwin House

HIGHER END :

Boutique Retreats

Venton Vean

EATING OUT IN WEST CORNWALL

The Mexico Inn, lovely pub in Long Rock, with great food.

The Tolcarne Inn, Ben Tunnicliffe has held a Michelin star…runs this seafood restaurant.

45 Queen St - Very quirky restaurant in the middle of Pz.

Seafood at the Barbican Bistro

Orange Cafe - Vegan Cafe/restaurant in the beautiful village of Mousehole

Friday nights are pizza night at the Cabin Beach Cafe

A number of food vans operate on Pz Promenade, good weather option

Our Top 10 Cafes for 2022

I’ll use the term cafe loosely. Some of these options aren’t strictly cafes. Eateries that serve food and/or snacks would be more on the money. Most are based in the areas that we operate in…before I get lots of useful suggestions from people. We’ve relied on first hand experiences at these establishments for this blog post.

In no particular order, here are our top 10 :

  • Roskilly’s Farm, Lizard Peninsula. As well as having dozens of delightful ice cream flavours and options, you also have a deli and shop, beautiful walks through the grounds, epic wood fired Pizzas and a great menu. Coffee there is fairly standard. Roskilly’s is also surrounded by world class swims. Highly recommend spending a day in the Lizard before a visit.

  • Gusto, Newquay. Great food, at reasonable prices. I haven’t actually visited here for about a year but I guarantee if I pop back in the food will be the same high standard. Really good meat and vege options.

  • Stones Bakery, Falmouth. If I’m in Falmouth I’ll always make the effort to pop in. Top quality baked goods, great cakes, good coffee and good food, including pizza. Fantastic little cafe too.

  • Be Kind Coffee Van, Hayle. You’ll find it at the back of the ASDA car park. It obviously doesn’t sound that glamorous but it’s easy and convenient parking, on the quay….so although you are essentially at the back of a car park, you have some nice views. The couple that run it are lovely and friendly, serves great coffee and some good snacks, including a great facon bagel.

  • Newlyn Art Gallery. Some (only a few!) good things did come out of the Covid lockdowns and pandemic. One of those things was the creation of Newlyn Art Galleries outdoor coffee shop. They’ve created an outdoor, enclosed and sheltered cafe area, which includes deckchairs on the adjacent lawn with sea views across Mount’s Bay. They have a selection of toasties and sell great coffee.

  • Ellie’s Soul Food Kitchen. Position just before the car park at Kynance, with parking! Really friendly staff and a beautiful outdoor area lie in wait. I also love the idea of a swim at Kynance followed by a coffee and snack. They do Saturday night street food…worth checking their Facebook page as this is seasonal.

  • Nauti But Ice, Porthleven. Small cafe in Porthleven, over looking the harbour. Great for storm watching in the summer and chilling out at the harbour in the summer. They offer a good standard of cake, good coffee and great ice cream. Porthleven is also a brilliant town to visit and offers great swimming, in the right conditions.

  • The Fat Apple, Porthallow, Lizard Peninsula. The service isn’t always that seamless but it still makes it into the top 10…which speaks volumes for the food. It’s reasonably priced food and they always go the extra mile. Cake is served with beautifully presented, chopped up fruit on top, big sandwiches with very tasty salads… Good stuff. They also have a number of canopies in the gardens, so you can sit comfortably outside in any conditions. Porthallow is usually very safe for swimming, in most conditions. Coffee is served in a cafeteria…so might not completely be your cup of tea if you’re into your coffee.

  • Uneeka, Truro. Not that often that we venture inland. When we do…Uneeka is usually on our radar. Lovely little cafe with good everything! Honourable mentions to 108 Coffee House and Pollen, both can be found on Kenwyn St, Truro.