St Ives Bay

St Ives Bay is a shallow crescent of Atlantic coast in north-west Cornwall, about six kilometres wide between St Ives and Godrevy Head. The bay’s southern edge is where the River Hayle meets the sea through shifting sand dunes and a broad tidal estuary. Behind the dunes lie salt marshes and the remains of Hayle’s old port, now watched over by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The eastern shore offers a three-mile sweep of sand backed by The Towans, a long line of coastal dunes running from Porth Kidney Sands to Godrevy Head. Surfers favour the Gwithian section, while Godrevy Island holds a lighthouse to warn of the nearby Stones reef. Strong tides flow around the island and at the river mouth, keeping sailors alert.

On the western side the land rises and villages such as Lelant, Carbis Bay and St Ives line the coast. Here the shore is rockier, with small beaches divided by headlands. The South West Coast Path follows the bay’s rim, looping inland only at the Hayle estuary, while the railway from St Erth brings visitors close to the dunes and the bay’s edge.