Harlyn.

Harlyn is a north-facing sandy beach break tucked inside the eastern arm of Trevose Head, near Padstow. The bay faces roughly north, so it takes a solid W to NW swell that wraps around the headland - it rarely fires without a genuine Atlantic low pushing energy into the bay. When the swell arrives, peaks form across the central bank offering both lefts and rights, while the east end produces a faster, punchier right off the rocks that can get hollow and ledgy at mid tide. Stormrider's depth data shows the wave is well-covered and prone to backwash, going fat and sluggish at high water; low to rising tide gives the cleanest walls before the banks flatten out. The main draw is its position as a storm refuge: when westerly gales make exposed breaks on the Atlantic coast unsurfable, Harlyn can hold chest-to-head-high waves under a southerly offshore wind, drawing longboarders, beginners and intermediates in numbers. That same shelter effect means it gets busy fast - surf schools operate here and car park access directly behind the beach makes it easy to reach, which compounds the crowd. The eastern rock section carries submerged hazards and should not be treated as beginner terrain on bigger days. Rips develop when swell builds, particularly near the stream outflow at the south-east corner of the bay.

Wrapped swell when the north coast closes, backwash kills it at high tide.