Visit Adventure Parc Snowdonia, North Wales Read our feature on a family camping and water-sports break in Pembrokeshire. Other good surfing beaches in Pembrokeshire are Whitesands, Freshwater West, West Dale and Marloes. One of the best places is Newgale, a southwest-facing, golden-sand Blue Flag beach stretching for 3km, with lots of parking, summer lifeguards and a surf school. With more than 50 glorious, unspoilt beaches, Wale's southwestern corner is a prime spot for surfing. Most are sheltered, meaning they're best experienced in autumn and winter. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty projecting into the Bristol Channel has some of the finest surf in Britain in beaches and bays such as Langland, Caswell, Oxwich, Rhossili and busy Llangennith with its surf-equipment hire. There's also a family-friendly café showcasing local street-food vendors and coffee-roasters. Using Wavegarden Cove technology to provide more than 1,000 waves every hour, this inland surf destination in Bristol offers consistent, safe surfing including tuition for all ages. Read our feature on a family surfing break on Guernsey. Its stunning, wide and clean Vazon Bay has shallow waters perfect for learning to ride the waves with young kids courtesy of Guernsey Surf School, which will swap over lesson timings at no charge if the surf doesn't play ball. This may not be the obvious place to surf, but Guernsey can be a decent alternative to Cornwall in high season, when you'll struggle to find slots at the top surf schools. Other hot spots are Bigbury on Sea with its great surf school, spectacular Bantham and vast Woolacombe Beach. Croyde Bay's and Saunton Sands' surf schools were the first to be granted Centre of Excellence status by Surfing GB, as well as winning Gold Awards from Green Tourism. Devonĭevon has two coasts with very different conditions, so there are surfing beaches to entice all levels from beginners to pros. Read our feature on a family surfing lesson at the Bedruthan Hotel & Spa in Cornwall. Cornwallīritain's surf capital is centred on raucous Newquay, but there are plenty of more child-friendly places to surf on the surrounding Atlantic coast, including Watergate Bay (where the eponymous hotel offers surf tuition). Then there are 4/3 wetsuits for autumn and winter in the UK, or 5/4/3 or 6/5/4 wetsuits favoured by northeast-coast or Scotland surfers, with built-in hoods for extra toastiness. For surfing in the UK summertime, a 3/2 long-suit is generally adequate (meaning a 3mm thickness on the core body parts and 2mm on the arms and legs for flexibility). Wetsuits are provided with surf tuition but if you're ready to start going out by yourself or simply want some bodyboarding fun, it's worth investing in your own. Choose sustainable, green accommodation where possible, and check out ways to support the marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage, whether by joining in a beach clean, protesting, volunteering or fundraising.Įven on the hottest days, British waters are chilly.

For one thing, you can forget the hassle of airports – wherever you live in England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland, there's a brilliant surfing beach within a couple of hours' drive of you, along with somewhere lovely to stay – whether a campsite, a lodge or cabin, a cute cottage or a stylish hotel or B&B. Surfing in the UK can be just as good as it is abroad – in fact, some think it's even better.

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