Porthpean Beach — Attraction in St Austell Bay

Only just got into a full car park, you need to download an app to pay by card and the internet is very poor. Everyone was struggling to pay. After eventually paying and unloading the car we made our way to the beach with our dog having read online that it was dog friendly. After passing hundreds of people (including staff), we eventually found a spot and as we were just about to set up a local chap from above the beach yelled at us that dogs were not allowed. We genuinely did not know and hadn't seen any signs. I said sorry I didn't know and we would leave. He then immediately replied by swearing at us telling us to P*#! off then. Absolutely unnecessary rudeness and aggression from this individual and a very poor ambassador for the area. He went on with more unnecessary comments. On the way out I had to look very hard for a sign saying dogs prohibited and eventually found a very small faded sign. Can't help feeling tourists are not welcome even though many of the local businesses are...

The natural beauty of the sea at Porthpean is absolutely stunning, especially on sunny, calm days when the water is crystal clear aquamarine blue. You could easily be mistaken for thinking you were on a Mediterranean island. Getting to the beach requires you to drive down a narrow Cornish lane and then walk down a fairly steep hill for a few minutes.

The facilities are okay, but not great. There is a reasonable size car park (charges apply, from what I recall: £1 for 1 hour, £2 for 3 hours and £5 all day) which is a few minutes walk up a fairly steep hill from the beach. On the seafront there is a little shop, public toilets (not always particularly clean) and a water sports hire facility.

The beach itself has coarse sand, pebbles and rocks (at low tide). At high tide there is very little...

I stay in a little cottage in Higher Porthpean just a 5 minute walk to this stunning beach…I’ve visited in darkest winter and mid summer solstice with moonlit skies and glistening slate. Just a fabulous beach, they do water sports and there’s a cafe too. There are rock pools when the tide is out slightly, at lowest tide I’ve experienced a massive expanse of sand as far as the cliffs. There used to be sign about no dogs in the summer months but newer signs mention nothing about restrictions. However checking the Cornwall beach website advises - No dogs on beach from 1st July to 31st August / 10am to 6pm, which used to be April to October no...