Bude Canal sea lock slipway

Bude Haven dries out completely on every tide, so entry and exit past the harbour mouth are normally only possible for about two hours either side of high water. Heavy Atlantic ground swells and breaking seas reach the entrance and can close the passage to boats, including the sea lock itself.

The slipway sits beside the Bude Sea Lock, built in the early nineteenth century as the seaward gateway to the Bude Canal, which once carried lime-rich sand inland to fertilise the acidic farmland of the Devon-Cornwall border, and later coal from South Wales. It remains hand-operated by the Harbour Master and a team of local volunteers; paddlers heading into the canal need to give advance notice and time their passage around the tide.

The haven and the coast either side fall within the Hartland Point to Tintagel Marine Conservation Zone, and the cliffs from Compass Cove to Furzey Cove form the Bude Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest. Zebra mussels, an invasive species, are established in the harbour and canal; Cornwall Council asks canal and harbour users to check, clean and dry their equipment after each visit, since the mussels' larvae can survive in damp conditions for more than two weeks.