Attraction30 minutes to a couple of hours

Padstow Harbour and the Quays

About

The harbour is the reason the town is here. The Padstow Harbour Commissioners call it a small commercial port 1.5 miles from the sea, still landing fish, crab and lobsters, with mussels, cockles, oysters and scallops now farmed in the estuary, though leisure craft are its main users today. Boats come in over the Doom Bar, the sandbank at the river mouth, and into an inner harbour behind a floodgate: the commissioners say the gate takes vessels up to 9.5 metres across through a 10 metre opening. On the quay you can watch the boats and the pots, children fish for crabs off the harbour wall, and the ferry, the boat trips and most of the town's food are within a few minutes' walk. It is free, and it is a good place to check the tide before anything else.

Photos

Highlights

✓Fishing boats landing crab, lobster and fish
✓The floodgate to the inner harbour
✓Crabbing off the harbour wall
✓The ferry and boat trips leave from here
✓North Quay and Railway public toilets nearby

Tips

→Check tide times on the Padstow Harbour Commissioners' site: at low tide the ferry and the boat trips change landing points.
→The harbour office is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and for two hours either side of high water, on 01841 532239.
→The tourist office says brass bands and visiting entertainers play on the quay in summer.
→Free to walk; there are seats all around the harbour.