Surfing Waves

Hey Guys,

I am planning on selling up my place in Essex and moving down to Cornwall for obvious reasons, but the problem is I am a little stuck as to where to go.

Initially I have been looking at newquay, but the more I research it the more I feel I wont be completely happy there. I am not a big drinker and am very much the quiet type wanting a simple like - Wake up, eat amazing food, have a surf, come home work eat more good food etc etc.

I have a few criteria that do have to be met, having never been down there before ( i do plan a trip before buying ) I am not really sure where to avoid etc.

1) Must have decent food take outs, cant be dealing with grease all the time like it is in Chelmsford.
2) Year round consistent surf
3) Good infrastructure, hopefully not totally dead in winter
4) No as far down as lands end
5) My fiancee has a degree in law, would be great to have job availability for her

I would love any input you guys have on Cornwall, I have been thinking about this as a decision now since last october when I was in Australia and im pretty sure its what I want to be doing, but selling up your house and moving to the other side of the country is a big move so dont want to be making any mistakes that could otherwise be easily avoided.

- Andy

Wow exceedingly hard core, thoroughly hooked, I think
It really is a big one, lots of input needed for both of you!
In this case uncle Jaffa can't advise you, except for one thing, get your fiancée hooked on surfing.
Believe me that will make it easier!

I have tried but she is just not a water person, its the one thing we are vastly different on, I feel so at home in the water.

To be fair Jaff, I was worried when I got the news about my back, but a slow build up in the aussie surf and it felt really beneficial to my health and back, I was surfing 3 hours a day 7 days a weeks in my last few weeks without any issues at all. Which reminds me I have 150gb of unedited gopro footage to go through still :S

Since being more placid and landlocked my back is giving me hassle again

I'm no local to Cornwall, but I used to spend a lot of time there in my camper, so I know quite lot of the area.

It might be more tricky than you think - Cornwall is based almost entirely around tourism and so is very seasonal and you're either in the middle of nowhere or somewhere that'll be packed from May to September

Newquay is a lame joke these days - more like a drunken hen-night venue than anything to do with surfing, so I'd give that a miss.

peazz wrote:1) Must have decent food take outs, cant be dealing with grease all the time like it is in Chelmsford.

Shouldn't be a problem - the food in cornwall tends to really good

peazz wrote:2) Year round consistent surf

Doesn't exist... it is still in the UK after all. The further west you go, the more consistent it is, but you'll still get flat spells for long stretches in the summer.

peazz wrote:3) Good infrastructure, hopefully not totally dead in winter

Cornwall doesn't have good infrastructure, full stop
The train lines are few and far between and it doesn't even have a proper motorway. Most of the towns are really really dead in winter.

peazz wrote:5) My fiancee has a degree in law, would be great to have job availability for her

Again, she might struggle in Cornwall.
As an alternative, why not try south Devon (Exeter) or south Cornwall (Plymouth) - you won't be right next to a consistent break (the south coast is a lot less consistent than the north coast, but still has plenty of breaks) but your options for travelling to a working break are huge, and there'll be work for your fiancee. Another option in Devon would be Barnstaple, which is 20 minutes from some superb breaks.

Matt has basically said it all there. The job for your fiance is probably the important thing to get right especially as she won't be surfing. A couple my mates moved to Truro for similar reasons.

KS

DBB,

Thanks bud, just checked out Barnstable and it has alot more property, seems well linked up with an A road and not that far away from bude, which from my research is pretty consistent?

I did think about going south Cornwall, but with a requirement of having really consistent 8s + swell year round (or as close to you can get in the uk) I dont think Plymouth is viable.

To be fair if I had the chance I would come to Aus, but it would just be far to hard for me to get in with no degree.

@KS - How did your mates find truro? I have been reading around its not the nicest of places to live?

EDIT: Alot more jobs for the missus as well! looking promising and its on the west side of the country to maximize consistency, property prices are not outrageous and could actually pick up a nice little place.

While i dont have the skills to ride this beast quite yet nor am I even close to in shape, croyde produces some really amazing world call peaks from time to time, seems like a much wiser choice thenNewquay, has more infrastructure a better town center and property is cheaper with no lager louts on the streets.

Seems near perfect with a good break producing a variety of conditions to hone my skills on over the coming years..

peazz wrote:Thanks bud, just checked out Barnstable and it has alot more property, seems well linked up with an A road and not that far away from bude, which from my research is pretty consistent?
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In Barnstaple, your quarter of an hour away from Saunton Sands, Croyde and Puttsborough, which all face in different directions and so you can usually find one that's reasonably protected from the wind. Croyde is a great break, but Saunton is much more forgiving and good to improve on. Putts is my pick of the three - sometimes has awesome waves

Thanks bro, appreciate the advise so much. Its hard to judge an area by pictures.

When it comes to looking at property in Barnstaple, is there any particular 'rough' areas to avoid?