Holidays in Holywell Bay, Cornwall – Beach, Dunes & the Gull Rocks

HOLIDAYS IN HOLYWELL BAY

Holywell Bay is one of the great beaches of the North Cornwall coast – a broad sweep of golden sand between the headlands of Kelsey Head to the north and Penhale Point to the south, backed by towering sand dunes and looking out to the twin Gull Rocks just offshore. The small village of Holywell sits at the head of the valley behind the beach, about five miles south-west of Newquay and five miles north of Perranporth, in the parish of Cubert.

Most of the coast here belongs to the National Trust, and it feels wonderfully unspoilt. At low tide the sand stretches for the best part of a mile, a shallow stream winds across the beach – a favourite paddling spot for small children – and rock pools appear beneath the cliffs. The beach faces the open Atlantic, so the surf is reliable, and RNLI lifeguards patrol in season.

Behind the beach rise the dunes of Holywell and Penhale, part of one of the largest dune systems in Britain, criss-crossed by sandy paths and rich in wildflowers and insects. The South West Coast Path runs over Kelsey Head to Porth Joke and Crantock in one direction, and around Penhale Point towards Perranporth in the other.

The bay takes its name from its holy wells. One, linked with St Cubert, lay in a colourful sea cave at the northern end of the beach, visited by pilgrims for centuries until a great rockfall buried its entrance in August 2026; another, with a stone well-house, survives inland near the golf course. Holywell Bay is also a famous filming location, from the opening of the James Bond film Die Another Day to Poldark and House of the Dragon.

The village is small but well equipped for a seaside holiday, with two pubs – the thatched Treguth Inn and St Piran’s Inn near the beach – beach shops, a National Trust car park and the golf courses at Trevornick. Large holiday parks surround the village, and Newquay, Crantock and Perranporth are all a short drive away.

Holiday accommodation ranges from cottages and apartments to holiday parks, touring and camping sites – see Holywell Bay holiday cottages and holidays and short breaks in Holywell Bay.

Best Time to Visit Holywell Bay

Late spring and early summer bring wildflowers to the dunes and Cubert Common and quieter sands before the school holidays. July and August are the busiest months, with lifeguards on duty, surf schools in full swing and the holiday parks at their liveliest – arrive early for the car park on hot days.

September is a lovely time to visit, with warm seas, good surf and space on the beach. In autumn and winter Holywell Bay is wild and beautiful, perfect for long dune walks with the dog; many beach businesses close out of season, so check before you travel.

HOLYWELL BAY BEACH & THE GULL ROCKS

Holywell Bay beach faces west into the open Atlantic between Kelsey Head and Penhale Point. It is reached from the National Trust car park in the village along a sandy path through the dunes, beside the stream that runs down the valley and spreads out across the sand. At high tide the stream forms a shallow, sheltered pool behind the beach, and at low tide the sands open out into a huge, flat expanse with rock pools under the cliffs.

Off Penhale Point at the southern end of the bay stand the Gull Rocks – also known as Carter’s Rocks, or locally as the Fishtail Rocks because of their shape. Owned by the National Trust, the two jagged islets are a nesting place for gulls and other seabirds, and they make Holywell Bay one of the most instantly recognisable beaches in Cornwall. Seals are often seen around Kelsey Head, and dolphins are sometimes spotted offshore.

Holywell is a popular surf beach, with surf schools and hire on the beach in season and the long-established Holywell Bay Surf Life Saving Club. RNLI lifeguards patrol in the main season: swim and bodyboard between the red and yellow flags, and surf between the black and white chequered flags. Dogs are welcome on the beach all year.

Rip currents and rockfall. Rip currents are a known hazard at Holywell Bay, especially around the stream outflow and the rocks, so always swim at a lifeguarded beach between the flags and never swim alone. After a major rockfall at the northern end of the beach in August 2026, the National Trust asks visitors to stay well back from the affected area, not to walk beneath the cliffs or climb on the fallen rock, and to keep away from the clifftop above.

At low tide the remains of a wreck can sometimes be seen in the sand, generally said to be the steam coaster SS Francia, lost in 1917 soon after leaving Newquay, though accounts of exactly where she sank differ. For full beach details, see our Holywell Bay beach guide.

THE DUNES, KELSEY HEAD & CUBERT COMMON

The dunes behind Holywell Bay are part of a vast system of wind-blown sand, thought to have formed around 5,000 years ago, that runs south as Penhale Sands for some two and a half miles to Perranporth. Penhale is one of the largest dune systems in Britain, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation, home to rare plants and a remarkable variety of butterflies and moths. Close to the beach the dunes are high and mobile; further inland they settle into grassy, flower-rich slopes.

There is no single path through the dunes – as the caption below says, it is a matter of finding your own route – so allow time, wear sensible shoes and keep an eye on small children on the steeper slopes. To the north, the grassy headland of Kelsey Head carries the banks of an Iron Age cliff castle, and beyond it lies the hidden cove of Porth Joke. Inland, Cubert Common is an ancient registered common and SSSI, with a Bronze Age barrow on its southern side.

The National Trust cares for Holywell, Kelsey Head and Cubert Common, and asks visitors to keep dogs under control around the grazing livestock and near the cliff edges. To the south, much of Penhale Sands was for many years an army training area, the former Penhale Camp, and military byelaws still apply in parts of the dunes – keep to the public paths and follow the signs.

THE HOLY WELLS OF HOLYWELL BAY

Holywell Bay has not one holy well but two, both traditionally linked with St Cubert, the saint of the neighbouring parish. The more famous lay in a sea cave beneath Kelsey Head, at the northern end of the beach, reachable only for a couple of hours around low tide. Inside, a spring trickled down the wall of the cave into a series of small terraced pools, their basins stained white, red, green and purple by the minerals in the water. An 1877 guide described a “pink enamelled basin” formed by drips from the roof, and for centuries parents brought sick children here in the hope of a cure.

On the night of 30 August 2026 a large section of cliff collapsed over the cave, completely burying its entrance. The National Trust says the cave is not accessible and the cliff remains unstable, so visitors should stay well clear of the rockfall. Members of the Holywell Bay Surf Life Saving Club believe the well itself may be preserved behind the fallen rock, but it could be years before the sea clears the debris and anyone knows for sure.

The second well lies inland, hidden by trees in a small gully on the Holywell Bay Golf course at Trevornick, where a stone well-house with a cross marks the spring. Visitors to the golf club can ask for directions.

HOLYWELL BAY FILMING GUIDE

With its huge beach, dunes and the unmistakable Gull Rocks, Holywell Bay has stood in for places all over the world:

• Top Secret! (1984) – the comedy’s “skeet surfing” scene was filmed here, with Holywell Bay standing in for California.
• Die Another Day (2002) – the opening sequence of the James Bond film, in which Bond surfs ashore in North Korea, was filmed at Holywell Bay.
• Poldark (BBC, 2015–2019) – many beach scenes in the series were filmed here.
• And Then There Were None (BBC, 2015) – scenes for the Agatha Christie adaptation were filmed at Holywell.
• House of the Dragon (HBO) – the beach became the shore below High Tide, the Velaryon castle on Driftmark, including Rhaenyra and Daemon’s moonlit beach walk and Aemond claiming the dragon Vhagar in season one, and the cast returned to film season two.

THINGS TO DO IN HOLYWELL BAY

Holywell Bay is a place for simple seaside pleasures – long days on the sand, paddling in the stream, surfing and exploring the dunes – with a good choice of things to do close by when you want a change from the beach.

For families, the stream and rock pools are perfect for young children, the dunes are made for running and rolling, and the golf courses at Trevornick include a pitch and putt and mini golf. On rainy days, the attractions of Newquay, the Lappa Valley Steam Railway and the National Trust’s Trerice are all within easy reach.

For walkers, the coast path north over Kelsey Head to Porth Joke and Crantock, or south around Penhale to Perranporth, gives some of the finest coastal walking in Cornwall. Here are some of the best things to do in and around Holywell Bay.

1. Spend a day on Holywell Bay beach – surfing, paddling and rock pooling. Holywell Bay beach guide.
2. Learn to surf with one of the surf schools on the beach – see our Newquay surf guide.
3. Explore the dunes and the wildflowers of Cubert Common.
4. Walk over Kelsey Head to the Iron Age cliff castle and down to Porth Joke.
5. Carry on to Crantock along the coast path – see our Crantock guide.
6. Play golf at Holywell Bay Golf, with an 18-hole par 3 course, a pitch and putt and mini golf – see our Cornwall golf guide.
7. Visit the film locations of Poldark, Die Another Day and House of the Dragon.
8. Visit Trerice, the Elizabethan manor house of the National Trust – Trerice guide.
9. Ride the Lappa Valley Steam Railway near St Newlyn East – Lappa Valley guide.
10. Spend a day in Newquay or Perranporth, each about five miles away.

HISTORY OF HOLYWELL BAY

People have lived on this coast for thousands of years. Worked flints of the Mesolithic and Neolithic have been found near Kelsey Head, a Bronze Age barrow stands on Cubert Common, and the ramparts of an Iron Age cliff castle survive on the headland. The village’s Cornish name is Tregew, and the bay itself was known as Porth Heylyn.

The parish takes its name from St Cubert, said to have been a Welsh missionary who came to Cornwall with St Carantoc of Crantock, and the holy wells of Holywell were long associated with him. Pilgrims visited the cave well through the Middle Ages, and later travellers and writers described its coloured pools. For centuries the area was farmland: the Treguth Inn began life as a farmhouse in the early 17th century.

In the 20th century Holywell changed again. In 1939 an army anti-aircraft training camp was set up at Penhale, on the dunes to the south; on 7 June 1940 a single German bomber attacked it, killing 22 soldiers, and in 1943 American army engineers were based there in preparation for D-Day. The camp closed in 2010. Meanwhile, holiday parks, surf culture and, more recently, film crews have made Holywell Bay one of the best-known beaches in Cornwall.

KEY BUILDINGS & LANDMARKS

• The Treguth Inn – a Grade II listed thatched inn of slate rubble and cob, built as a farmhouse in the early 17th century and extended later in the same century, with an old cloam oven in the fireplace.
• The Gull Rocks (Carter’s Rocks) – the twin rocky islets off Penhale Point, owned by the National Trust and a nesting site for seabirds.
• Kelsey Head cliff castle – the earthworks of an Iron Age promontory fort on the headland north of the beach.
• The holy well cave – St Cubert’s well in the sea cave beneath Kelsey Head, buried by a rockfall in August 2026.
• The inland holy well – a stone well-house with a cross in a gully on the Holywell Bay Golf course.
• St Cubert’s Church, Cubert – the parish church, dating from the 13th century and largely rebuilt in the 15th, whose spire is a landmark for miles around.

LOCAL EVENTS

Holywell is a quiet place, but there is plenty going on nearby through the year, from the old parish feast at Cubert to the big summer festivals of Newquay.

• St Cubert’s Feast (the Sunday after 4 October) – the parish feast of Cubert.
• Crantock Bale Push (September, a Friday evening) – bale racing and fun in the next village along the coast; see our Crantock guide.
• Boardmasters (early August) – the surf, skate and music festival in nearby Newquay.
• Royal Cornwall Show (June) – the county’s great agricultural show at Wadebridge.

Dates change from year to year – check our Cornwall events guide for current dates.

PLACES NEAR HOLYWELL BAY

• Crantock – the old village and National Trust beach on the Gannel, about 3 miles north by the coast path.
• Porth Joke – the hidden cove just over Kelsey Head.
• Newquay – Cornwall’s surf capital, about 5 miles north-east.
• Perranporth – three miles of sand beyond the Penhale dunes, about 5 miles south.
• St Agnes – the old mining village and its cove, further down the coast.
• Cubert – the parish village, about 1½ miles inland, with St Cubert’s Church.