Cornwall, England

Boscastle Harbour slipway

Launch — The slipway sits at the seaward end of a drying harbour bound by walls of diagonally laid slate. The freehold is held by the National Trust; harbour operations, including launching fees, are licensed to the Boscastle Fishermen's Association, with day-to-day control under the Harbour Master.

Parking — The nearest car park is Cornwall Council's Cobweb pay-and-display car park (249 spaces, tarmac, open 24 hours, no height or weight restriction; no overnight sleeping and no motorhomes or campers 11pm to 8am). It sits at the inland end of the village, so the walk to the water lengthens toward the seaward slipway.

Access — Launching is open to the public on payment of a launching fee. The South West Coast Path runs through the harbour. Harbour-side roads are for permitted vehicles only, with no visitor parking down at the water, so craft are typically trolleyed down from the car park.

Season — No seasonal closure to unpowered craft is published by the harbour authority.

Regulations — No national licensing regime applies to unpowered craft on this stretch of coast; the local requirement is the harbour's own launching fee, set by the Boscastle Fishermen's Association under its National Trust operating licence. A 3-knot speed limit applies throughout the harbour and jet skis are not permitted. No named harbour byelaws document was found for Boscastle; it is not among the harbours Cornwall Harbours Board lists as holding published byelaws, consistent with Trust/Association rather than council management.

Boscastle Harbour is a small natural inlet on the north Cornwall coast, enclosed by two stone harbour walls built in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville. A tidal slipway and footpath give access to the water, the only significant harbour along about 20 miles of this stretch of coast.

Boscastle harbour sits where the River Valency, joined in the village by the River Jordan, reaches the sea between steep valley sides, behind two stone piers enclosing a narrow tidal basin. The way out to open water is a steep-sided channel that bends between the piers and passes behind Meachard Island, a rock just off the harbour mouth.

Meachard Island holds seabird colonies in spring and summer, in particular razorbills, and has a small blowhole on its inner side that vents spray when the sea is rough. A second blowhole inside the harbour itself is reported to boom and spout water for two hours either side of low tide.

Above the harbour on Willapark headland stands a former coastguard lookout, built in the early 1800s as a summer house and leased by the National Trust to the National Coastwatch Institution in 2002; it remains a visible landmark from the water. Both sides of the harbour and the surrounding coast lie within National Trust land, the Boscastle to Widemouth Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Cornwall National Landscape, designations that protect the cliffs and their seabird colonies.

Nearby

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The Pilchard Cellar Cafe

National Trust cafe in the harbour.

Website

Trebyla Farm Camping & Caravan Site

Working-farm campsite about a mile from the harbour, with bookable tent and touring pitches and electric hook-ups, open to the general public.

Website

Conditions to check

Tidal flow

The harbour dries completely at low water and is accessible only about two hours either side of high tide.

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Limited exit

The exit channel between the piers is narrow and steep, though the harbour authority states it carries no hidden rocks.

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Other

In south-westerly winds the harbour becomes inaccessible: waves bounce off the cliffs and around Meachard Island to produce surge inside the harbour, described by the harbour authority as a problem at any time of year and particularly in winter.

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Boat traffic

The harbour operates as a minor fishing port with commercial and recreational boat traffic sharing the water.

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