TWO brilliant beaches in the Newquay area are in the spotlight today as the Voice continues its serialisation of the travel book, Cornwall Favourites For One And All!: A Quick Guide To Good Places To Visit Across The County.

Voice journalist Andrew Townsend, the author of the book, says: “Our journeying around Cornwall has so far seen us travelling along the south coast to Land’s End and then visiting coastal spots in the west of the county, including St Ives and Hayle.

“For the latest part of the tour, we are following the extensive northern coast of Cornwall all the way to the Bude area.”

Taking the coast road north out of Newquay, you come to Porth and its lovely beach. You can actually use a car park on the sands here. However, if the car park is full or the tide is too high, there’s another car park nearby.

Porth Island, beside the family-friendly beach, is reached by a footbridge.

Just a short drive up the coast is Watergate Bay which has a huge beach when the tide goes out - around two miles long - and is popular with surfers and kitesurfers.

Polo competitions and other sporting events sometimes take place on the sands or in the sea here.

Fields at Watergate Bay act as the venue for the music and camping part of the annual Boardmasters festival.

The steep, winding road at Watergate Bay, which requires plenty of revs to climb, has been used for motorsport hillclimbs.

Cornwall Favourites For One And All!, a lovely tour around the county, is available as an ebook on Amazon.
Cornwall Favourites For One And All!, a lovely tour around the county, is available as a book and an ebook on Amazon. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)

Next time, we will be in the resort of Mawgan Porth, with its large sandy beach and substantial headlands.

Our extensive tour around the county taking in well-known spots but also lesser-known locations, offers something for everyone, from sandy beaches, remote moorland, storm-beaten cliffs and scenic rivers to historic towns, pretty villages, mining heritage sites and visitor attractions.

• Andrew Townsend is a journalist and writer. More details of Cornwall Favourites For One And All!: A Quick Guide To Good Places To Visit Across The County, which is also available as an ebook, can be found via this link to Andrew’s author page on Amazon - bit.ly/AndrewTownsendAuthor