Godrevy

Godrevy is one of those places that stops you in your tracks. The National Trust headland juts out into St Ives Bay, with the white lighthouse on Godrevy Island sitting just offshore — the same lighthouse that inspired Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse.” The beach below is vast, backed by dunes and connecting to the three miles of golden sand that stretch all the way to the Hayle estuary.

The headland is a fantastic spot for wildlife. Grey seals haul out on the rocks around the island year-round, and you can often watch them from the clifftop without binoculars. In autumn and winter, the birdwatching is excellent. The coastal walking here is superb — the path along the cliff gives views across the whole bay towards St Ives, and on a sunny day the water below is an almost Caribbean shade of turquoise. The National Trust car park fills up early in summer, so arriving before 10am is wise.

The beach at Godrevy is popular with surfers and bodyboarders, with consistent swells rolling in from the Atlantic. There’s a decent cafe at the car park, but otherwise no commercial development — just dunes, sea and sky. It’s a short drive from Hayle and makes an easy day trip from St Ives, Camborne or Redruth.