South Fistral.

South Fistral is the southern half of Newquay's main surfing bay, tucked under Pentire Head and producing long, lined-up lefts that run over a sand bottom with occasional rock sections poking through. The Pentire headland blocks southwest winds, so while the rest of the bay turns messy this corner stays clean, which is why it often draws a crowd even when North Fistral is blown out. Unlike its northern neighbour it prefers a fuller tide to work properly, and the shape holds across a broad 1 to 4.5m range on solid W, SW and NW swells. Access is from Esplanade Road on Pentire Head with roadside parking, and on bigger days surfers jump off the rocks below the headland rather than paddling across the beach. Fistral as a whole is the most famous beachbreak in Britain, host of the Boardmasters contest and the historic heart of UK surfing, so the lineup fills fast whenever it fires. When the south corner is packed, North Fistral, Little Fistral and Towan sit minutes away.

Pentire's lee corner holds clean when the rest of Fistral turns to mush.