There are an abundance of local activities right on your door step, below are just a taster of the adventures to be had:
Cawsand Bay offers the ideal place to relax but is also popular for swimming, windsurfing, water skiing, a dream training area for those who are more active! For a fishing break, why not try sea angling, – bass, wrasse, pollock or mackerel are readily caught from the rocks. Bird watchers might see buzzards circling overhead or cormorants fishing, & the really lucky ones may even glimpse a basking shark or a dolphin. Nearby Whitsand Bay is also popular with beachgoers, surfers, and shore-fisherman.
The South West Coastal PathHouses & Gardens:Wet day activity:Plymouth/ (Ferry):
During the summer from Cawsand beach, minutes from Blue Monkey, you can take a passenger ferry to Plymouth which offers an abundance of high street and independent shops, restaurants, cafés, bars, theatres & attractions to suit everyone.
Steeped in history the Barbican & Hoe are definitely worth a visit. Towards Liskeard and Bodmin Moor there are many other activity centres for all ages, including of course the well known Eden Project.
Additional useful sites:
Things to do in Cornwall – a comprehensive guide to Cornwall.
The Cornwall Tourist Board – has cultural and historical information, places to visit, places to stay.
Local Information
Things to do near Kingsand & Cawsand
- Walking: The coastal path from Kingsand and Cawsand is beautiful in both directions. You are in the perfect place for exploring a section of one of Britains most beloved National Trails the “South West Coast Path”. If you follow it around the coastline, it takes you past Penlee Point & Rame Head, with its 11th century monks’ chapel & stunning views to the glorious 4 mile stretch of sand & surf at Whitsand Bay. The View restaurant overlooking Whitsand Bay makes an ideal refreshment stop. The Rame Peninsula also hosts part of the “Cornish Discovery Time Trail” inc. Mt Edgcumbe House.
- Heading west will take you to Penlee Point, Rame Head and Whitsand Bay (a 4 mile walk) ending with refreshments at the View restaurant with panoramic views of Whitsand Bay. You can return direct via downhill road to Cawsand (1 mile) or return via the coastal path. Buses (The pink link) also run from the View Restaurant.
- Heading east will take you through the grounds of Mount Edgcumbe House & their formal gardens (4 miles) with refreshments served at either the Orangery or Edgcumbe Arms. The stunning local costal path walk winds its way through the 800 acre Mount Edgcumbe Park. According to the Shell Guide it is probably the most beautiful park in England. There is a bus that can bring you directly back to Cawsand from the Orangery (making it a very easy walk – 2.5 miles).
- Surfing:Whitsand bay is a great learners surfing beach (experienced surfers can hire boards from the cafe on the beach). http://www.adventurebay.co.uk/ Tel: 07722913206 Email: info@adventurebay.co.uk
- Kite surfing: Mobius – 08456 430 630 Mobius received the Silver Award for Cornish “Leisure Pursuit Provider of the Year in 2007”.
- Golf: Just behind Whitsand bay is one of Cornwall’s most challenging and stunning links golf courses; Whitsand Bay links which is open to the public at under £30 a round. Whitsand Bay Golf Club Green fees M-F £22, S-S £28 (01503 230778). The PGA course at St Mellion is a only 45 minutes drive from Blue Monkey. St Mellion International Resort (01579 352 022).
- Riding: Penewin Stables, Trerulefoot – Lessons from £12 pp ph (01752 851365) – Excellent tuition and a 20 minute drive away.
- Sea fishing: “Fish n trips” – Outings from £15 pp for a half day (07971 208381) – located near the Barbican, Plymouth. Uncle Len’s charters available from Millbrook area (07875 084625).
- Geocaching: Geocaching – “Locate hidden containers called geocaches.”
- Mount Edgcumbe House (see above) (01752 822236) – a country house and gardens a 10 minute drive away.
- National Trust Anthony House and Gardens (01752 812191) – a country house and gardens a 10 minute drive away.
- Lost Gardens of Heligan in St Austell (01726 845100) – one of the most popular botanical gardens in the UK. Has a primeval jungle feel and is a 30m drive away.
- Eden Project in St Austell (01726 811911) – enclosed tropical gardens.
- Mayflower Steps – historical site detailing the Pilgrim Father’s trip to America in 1620. In the summer months, the Cawsand Ferry leaves the beach for a 30 minute trip to the Barbican in Plymouth.
- Or visit nearby Looe, a pretty yet working fishing port.
- The National Marine Aquarium – located near the Barbican, Plymouth. Tel: 01752 600 301
- The Barbican Theatre, Castle St, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2NJ. Tel: 01752 267 131
- Theatre Royal Ltd., Royal Parade, Plymouth. Tel: 01752 267 222
- Vue Cinemas, Barbican Leisure Park, Shapters Road, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 0LG Tel: 0871 224 0240
- The Reel Cinema, 25 Derrys Cross, Town Centre, Plymouth, PL1 2SW Tel: 01752 255 655
- Warner Village Cinemas, Plymouth, PL4 0LG Tel: 01752 670 001
- Kingsand and Cawsand lie within the boundaries of the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park: 1 of 4 Country Cornish Parks, it is 885 acres situated on the Rame Peninsula, overlooking the Plymouth Sound. Inland, the villages of Millbrook, St John, Sheviock and St Germans are all well worth a visit, as is Antony House, the 18th century home of the Cornish Carew family, now a National Trust property (film location for Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland) and a must for nature lovers with its 100 acres of woodland, gardens and riverside walks.
- Mount Edgcumbe Country Park is one of four designated Country Parks in Cornwall. It is 885 acres overlooking Plymouth Sound and the River Tamar. The Park has been famous since the 18th Century, when the Edgcumbe family created formal gardens, temples, follies and woodlands around the Tudor House. Specimen trees such as Californian Redwood, stand against copses which shelter a herd of wild fallow deer. The South West Coast Path runs through the Park for nine miles along the coastline.
- The Formal Gardens are grouped in the lower park near Cremyll. Originally a 17th Century ‘wilderness’ garden, the present scheme was laid out by the Mount Edgcumbe family in the 18th Century. The Formal Gardens include an Orangery, an Italian Garden, a French Garden, an English Garden and a Jubilee Garden, opened in 2002, to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
- The Park and Formal Gardens are open all year round and admission is free. The Park and Gardens are jointly managed by Cornwall County Council and Plymouth City Council. Although the park covers a large area, there is little formal maintenance, ensuring it has a rough and ready rural feel in all but the formal gardens.
- Bordered on three sides by the waters of the Rivers Lynher, Tamar and Plymouth Sound, it is known locally as ‘The Forgotten Corner’ and still has an isolated feel about it despite being so close to Plymouth. The Rame Peninsula is an area of outstanding natural beauty with quiet secluded beaches, magnificent scenery and spectacular walks.
- Visitors travelling by car approach the Peninsula by crossing the Tamar Bridge on the A38 or by going through the thriving city of Plymouth with its deep naval traditions and excellent shopping facilities, and boarding the chain ferry to Torpoint. Visitors on foot or with bicycles can take the passenger ferry from Stonehouse in Plymouth to Cremyll or, in the summer, can you can take a delightful boat trip from the Mayflower Steps on the Barbican across the Sound to Cawsand Beach.
- The South West Coast Path follows the coastline past Penlee Point and Rame Head, with its 11th century monks’ chapel and stunning views to the glorious 4 mile stretch of sand and surf at Whitsand Bay popular with beachgoers, surfers, and shore-fisherman. With the Devonport Royal Naval Dockyard nearby, the Rame Peninsula has always been strategically important and so the remains of many fortifications can still be seen throughout the area.