I’m pretty new to stand up paddleboarding (SUP) – here’s my first solo venture from Porthpean Beach.
Porthpean Beach, near St Austell, is a popular place for watersport lovers. It seemed like the logical choice for my first, independent stand up paddleboard outing.
For context, I’ve only been on a SUP a few times and never on my own. I really enjoyed it and find it’s a calm and relaxing way of spending time on water. It’s also a beautiful and different way of seeing the Cornish coastline . Little coves can be found and caves explored, some of which you may never know existed.
That said, my last SUP led to me being towed in by another paddleboarder. Paddling into the wind proved to be too much and it dented my confidence a bit. Especially when it comes to setting out alone.
This summer I borrowed my sister’s Nautical stand up paddleboard (similar to this one). Despite being keen to get out and give SUP another try, it took several weeks to build up to it. That, and waiting for the right conditions of course. I didn’t want a repeat performance.
Porthpean Beach
Locally, there are several locations known to be good for a bit of stand up paddleboarding. For my first outing, I decided to start from Porthpean Beach. There is an outdoor activity centre attached to the beach and the beach itself is nice and familiar. I’ve swum from here quite a few times too.
There’s a reasonable sized car park here as well. I think I paid £2 for 3 hours. My plan was to head to Silvermine Beach, a small cove to the right of Porthpean Beach that I’ve always admired from the coast path above.
Paddling from Porthpean
Weirdly, between my last paddleboard outing and this one, I seem to have lost the ability to stand up. A few attempts saw me wobbling a bit so I had to kneel for this one.
Heading out from Porthpean, I stayed relatively close to the cliffs. I was taken by how smooth and calm the sea was and how easy the paddling felt.
Seeing the cliffs and rocks as I moved away from Porthpean Beach was simply lovely. It was early and quiet. There was a cave or 2 to potentially explore and noticed 2 sea swimmers gently making their way along and loitering near the entrance to one of them.
I seemed to get to Silvermine Beach quite quickly. I actually wondered if I hadn’t gone far enough. In the sunshine, the sea is a gorgeous aqua colour. The sand takes on a silvery hue too, hence the name. It was a shame the clouds were quite stubborn on this particular morning, you wouldn’t think it was August judging by the photos.
I stopped at Silvermine Beach, having a swim to the nearest buoy. When I got back on the sand, I saw a seal playing in the water. As I got onto my SUP to make my way back to Porthpean Beach, it popped its head up right in front of me!
Back to Porthpean Beach
Heading back was a bit tougher. The wind was headon so I had to work harder. Nothing too daunting, thankfully and I think I went at the right time.
Thankfully, I landed on the sand at Porthpean Beach without issue and no towing required. I was expecting to have achy shoulders and arms the next day. They weren’t too bad, my thighs on the other hand were screaming every time I sat down.
Since this SUP, I’ve been out again from St Mawes to St Anthony Head. Another joyful experience (without the sun!).
Let me know your favourite places to go paddleboarding. I’m hoping to make it out again but I guess I need to return the SUP at some point.