Porthminster Beach is the lovely, big, sandy beach that sits below the train station in St Ives. It nearly always looks amazingly tropical, like a beach from a beautiful, hot island! It's not though, it really is right here in St Ives!
The beach sits nestled below a leafy promenade full of tropical plants. This is a lovely place to walk and sit just to admire the view.
The beach itself is a fine, sandy beach. Because of the direction it faces, the sea is usually much flatter and calmer. Surfers are best off going round to Porthmeor Beach. Porthminster Beach is great for flatter activities such as Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP), Kayaking and swimming.
Because it is usually much flatter and calmer, Porthminster Beach is very popular with young families.
We don't visit Porthminster Beach as often as we should. The closest beach to our house is Porthmeor, and Porthminster is a walk across town, which can be annoying with children and beach stuff. Today I had a little bit of time to myself after going to the Post Office, so I took myself off to Porthminster Beach.
I walked down The Warren and onto Porthminster Beach via the Pedn Olva shelters. The weather down here has been very cold for May, especially if you think back to May 2020 when we were roasting in the garden during lockdown! However, it was good to see lots of people about (yes we have missed you!) and little children playing on the beach. There were even people swimming in the sea, good on you, whoever you are!
I hope you enjoy my little video I made of the walk.
Nearest Car Park To Porthminster Beach
This is the Station Car Park (post code TR26 2BH) which sits above Porthminster Beach by the Train Station. It is a long stay car park that charges £3.20 for 2 hours, £6.40 for 4 hours or £8.40 for 24 hours. Click here for the full information from Cornwall Council >>
Porthminster Beach is the closest beach if you are arriving into St Ives by train.
Facilities On Porthminster Beach
There are lots of facilities on Porthminster Beach, including loos, takeaways, ice cream parlour, a beach shop, fish & chips and the lovely Porthminster Beach cafe and Gin & Cocktail bar. The beach has a lifeguard during the Summer season and you can hire watersports things from the St Ives Surf School - Porthminster is especially good for SUP and Kayaking (go to Porthmeor for surfing though). There are beach chalets to hire at the far end of the beach and there is a putting green too.
I am planning to post a weekly video, showing you a little glimpse of our life down here in (sometimes) sunny St Ives and West Cornwall. Hopefully now restrictions are easing up, we can get out and about much more and show you some of the lovely places and things to do down here in the far far West!
Play The Game & Visit Your Favourite Places In St Ives
