Newquay Harbour Slipway
Newquay Harbour Slipway launches into Newquay's working harbour on Cornwall's north coast, rebuilt from 1832 on the site of a medieval quay recorded as early as 1439. Newquay's RNLI lifeboat station has operated from the harbour since 1965, alongside its fishing fleet and leisure boats.
The harbour's present piers were begun by Richard Lomax in 1832 and completed by mining entrepreneur J. T. Treffry after Lomax died in 1836, with a central jetty added in 1870 to enlarge the loading area for ore shipped out on the Cornwall Minerals Railway; the jetty is now used to store fishing gear. The three-acre harbour is tidal and dries to sand at low water, so the boats moored inside it settle onto the harbour floor until the tide returns.
The water lies within the Newquay and the Gannel Marine Conservation Zone, a roughly 900-hectare area running along the coast from Kelsey Head to Trevelgue Head at Porth Beach and including the tidal Gannel estuary; it protects intertidal and subtidal sediment habitats and the rare giant goby. Beyond the harbour mouth the water opens into Newquay Bay, with the Gannel estuary to the south-west and the town's surf beaches around the headlands to the north.
Nearby
A cafe at 1 South Quay Hill, Newquay TR7 1HR, on the road down to the harbour.
A holiday park about 1.4 miles from the harbour taking tents, motorhomes and touring caravans; the operator describes it as a family-and-couples-only park.
WebsiteA holiday park about 0.9 miles from the harbour taking tourers, tents, motorhomes and static pitches; the operator does not accept all-male, all-female or uneven mixed group bookings without prior arrangement.
WebsiteConditions to check
The harbour dries to sand at low water; small-craft launching is timed to the three hours either side of high water.
SourceThe harbour holds a working fishing fleet and up to 70 tidal moorings in use between April and October.
SourceThe fairway between South Quay and the Jetty is kept clear for RNLI lifeboat access, and vessels must not obstruct the free passage of other craft.
SourceNewquay Rowing Club races from the harbour on summer evenings, starting and finishing over a triangular course in Newquay Bay.
SourceQuestions
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