Bossiney Cove is a beauty, with clear calm water backed by a rugged headland, it’s well worth a visit in its own right. However, it’s located beside a second even more impressive cove with epic caves full of pink coralline, a huge sandy beach and an exciting exit track up a narrow cliff edge path.

The turquoise water is the some of the most beautiful we’ve seen in Cornwall and that really is saying something.

Depending on the tides you can either walk or swim between the two and this allows you to form a circuit track which is undoubtedly one of the best short walks in Cornwall.

Here’s what to expect from the adventure.

The Bossiney and Benoath Cove Circular Walk

The stats

Distance: 1.1 mile (1.7km) circuit
Elevation gain: 90m
Difficulty: Moderate due to the exit track from Benoath Cove
Trailhead: Bossiney Cove Car Park

Summary: The short circuit walk has one notable descent and one notable climb, but neither last too long. The descent has some rocky track, but it’s generally a good path.

The ascent from Benoath Cove has one very short section where you need to climb up a bit of rock which has a fixed rope in place to assist.

As an ascent route, this is easy; but as a descent it requires more care as the rock is quite smooth and can be slippery.

There is also a narrow section of track close to a drop on one side which again is easier when going uphill, though we’ve done it both ways and it’s perfectly doable if you don’t mind that kind of terrain.

A note on tides

We’ve visited the coves at low, mid and high tide and mid is my favourite for the truly exceptional water colour. At high tide there is no beach at all in either location.

A few hours either side of low tide offers a huge amount of beach space and the ability to walk between the two beaches without getting wet.

At mid tide and higher you would need to swim and for this you want to pick a day when the swell is marked as slight or smooth so that you don’t have to contend with big waves.

You can see the 5 day tide forecast here.

Starting the trail: the descent to Bossiney Cove

Although you can walk the circuit in either direction, we prefer descending to Bossiney Cove as the ascent from Benoath Cove is easier than the descent.

From the car park (full parking details below) you head around the gate and and then left at the fork, Bossiney Cove is signposted.

You’ll head along the grassy path which gently descends before getting steeper at the 175m mark. The grassy path will give way to a stony track as you continue descending and the path will narrow.

The descent is not overly steep and is easy provided you don’t mind a little uneven terrain underfoot. You’ll soon pass a grassy knoll with gorgeous views.

The final part of the descent is on stairs and then some jagged rocky track, but there’s a handrail in place for added stability.

You will arrive at the beach 600m after leaving the car park.

Bossiney Cove

If you’re visiting at low tide, there is a decent amount of sandy beach to enjoy and it’s a popular spot with families during the summer holidays as the water is fairly sheltered for swimming.

You can walk through a narrow slit between the cliffs right on the beach and then keep heading left and you’ll find an impressive sea cave.

It’s a sandy bottomed cave so you can just walk through barefoot without needing to worry about rocks.

It’s a beautiful beach and the rugged cliff walls on either side give it a lot of atmosphere.

Though we’ve not yet checked it out for ourselves we did see a coasteering group swim round to the left of the beach (when facing the sea) and it looked like there were some more interesting rock formations to see.

Continuing to Benoath Cove

Assuming you’re here within a couple of hours either side of low tide, you can walk round to Benoath Cove and it takes just a few minutes.

If the tide is still slightly up you may need to walk a little on the raised rock shelf if you want to stay completely dry, but close to low tide you can walk straight over on the sand.

When the tide is up you’ll need to wade or swim over and that’s when you want to be more mindful of what the swell is like.

If conditions are good it’s a quick swim over, though when the tide is higher there is no beach at all at Benoath Cove, just a few raised rocks close to the exit track which you can relax on.

Benoath Cove

Benoath Cove has the larger beach of the two and in my eyes is even more picturesque. I like it at low tide but a couple of hours before high tide is my favourite as though there is very little beach left the water colour looks even more exceptional and you can swim much closer to shore.

At low tide the water remains shallow quite far out but if you don’t mind being fairly far from the shore, it’s a fabulous place to swim. The water is calm and very clear and the surrounding cliff walls look positively ginormous from inside the water making it feel very dramatic.

The beach is great for exploring and the sea caves are amazing. There is one huge cavern where you enter in one place and then exit at another which is actually a little further up the beach and you’d never think it was connected!

When coming across from Bossiney Cove the first cave entry you’ll see is rocky and weedy in places, but don’t be deterred because the pink coralline in the cave terraces is incredible here.

It honestly blew me away that it was such a vivid pink and I’d never even heard of the cave before!

You can continue through the large cavern and out the other side which has sandy access, so if you don’t want to climb up any rocks or over any weed, continue a little to the left and you’ll see the other entryway.

Just outside the sandy access to the cavern is the formation that looks like an elephants trunk and you can walk right through it at low tide.

I don’t know if it’s just me that gets excited about all these caves and rock formations because we explored so many in Cornwall and we were always the only ones there, but to me they make the beaches extra special.

Climbing up from Benoath Cove

It’s only 280m from Benoath Cove back up to the main track on the headland again, but it’s more rustic than the path down to Bossiney.

I wouldn’t attempt it when wet as it could be slippery and there is a large drop on one side for a significant portion of that distance.

When dry, it’s totally doable if you don’t suffer from vertigo. You’ll start with the short (few steps) climb up a bit of fairly polished rock where there is a rope in place if needed.

After this the track is made up of somewhat slippery jagged rock which heads uphill and has a handrail for extra peace of mind.

The next bit is a short but narrow and exposed dirt track still leading uphill. This is the bit I would really not be keen on if wet but it only lasts for 25m.

The gradient then slackens and the path heads between dense bracken and the feeling of exposure disappears.

It’s a touch overgrown, but not difficult. You will then meet the main track and can head gently uphill back to the car park, which is around 400m away.

Alternatively you could lengthen the walk a little by continuing on to see the spectacular gorge waterfall in Rocky Valley, all the details of which are in this post.

Parking for the Bossiney and Benoath Cove Circular Walk

The walk begins at the Bossiney Cove car park, postcode PL34 0AY, which you can see here on Google maps. This car park has toilet facilities. If it’s full there is an additional large field beside it which you can park at for £1 a day.

It’s around 1-1.5 miles and a 5 minute drive from Tintagel.

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