Cornwall is the county at the far south-west of England (and the UK). As the land tapers towards the west, growing narrower until it reaches Land's End, Cornwall is the last mainland stop before North America.

The climate in Cornwall (and Devon, the next county to the east) is much milder than most of the UK's.

The North Atlantic Drift, which keeps the whole country much milder than it would otherwise be, has a particularly strong effect here.

The landscape is often rugged, wind-swept, stark, and beautiful. The softer parts of Cornwall are mostly in the south, and the west and north more uncompromisingly granite.

Cornwall has a long and serious art tradition, with groups of painters such as the St. Ives School and Newlyn School achieving international fame.

As the prevailing wind direction is westerly to south-westerly, and there is an awful lot of water south and west of Cornwall, there is good surfing to be had.

The average sea temperature is between 8 to 10 degrees C (45 to 50 F) in the winter, and 14 to 16 (57 to 61) degrees in the summer.

Cornwall's surfing infrastructure is reasonably well-developed, with facilities to buy and hire boards, wetsuits, etc, surfing schools, and lifeguards.

There is also a range of accommodation for different budgets.

I dare say there is fierce disagreement about the best 10 surfing beaches in Cornwall.

These are my favourites, in no particular order.

Fistral Beach in Newquay is where surfing in the UK got going. Fistral Beach is actually in Newquay, and is divided into South Fistral, NorthFistral and Little Fistral, also known as Fistral Bay.

The origin of the name Fistral is completely unknown. It has absolutely no known links with any European language.

As a result of its reputation, and being the place where most of the surfing competitions take place, Fistral can be pretty crowded. Nevertheless, it’s still a really good surfing beach with extremely consistent waves.

As it faces mostly north, it’s sheltered enough that even in a strong south-westerly wind surfing is still possible.

There are lots of surfing schools here, so it’s an easy place to learn if you haven’t surfed much before.

South Fistral

South Fistral Beach often has great waves and they usually break left. The Beach is best at mid to high tide, but you do have to watch rocks which are underwater at high tide on the right-hand side of the beach.

There are decent facilities at South Fistral, including a toilet block, a place to hire wet suits and boards, and a café kiosk selling drinks and snacks. This beach has a lifeguard.

North Fistral

North Fistral works at all tides if there is a good swell, but the best waves are at low tide. This is one of the most crowded places in the summer and is mostly to the right. You need to be a bit careful on the left of this beach at high tide as there can be a rip current.

There is a car park here, a huge café, places to buy and hire wet suits and surfing gear, surf shops, toilets, baby changing facilities, cold water showers and lifeguard facilities.

Little Fistral

Little Fistral is a small bay which can only be surfed at low tide as it is buried at high tide.

There are sand bars which move slightly and the break therefore varies. This is quite a tricky surfing area, and you need to be very careful when the tide is coming in or you can get stuck there.

The facilities are the same as with North Fistral.

Widemouth Bay is near Bude on the north coast. It’s a really long beach, divided into two parts, and has some fantastic and reliable surfing.

It tends to be best between mid tide and high tide, but it is also possible a lot of the time to surf at low tide.

It does get quite busy here, and from spring to autumn the lifeguards tend to divide the beaches up into areas for proper surfers and areas for swimmers and body boarders.

There is lifeguard cover here, and good facilities including car parking, hiring and buying surf gear, cafes, and cold water showers.

This is one of our favourite beaches in Cornwall, because although it’s busy it’s really quite large.