Vugga Cove is a glorious easy to reach wild swimming spot with turquoise water and silvery rock walls. It’s best at high tide when you can swim straight off the rocks and dare devils can jump from the cliffs.
It’s just a ten minute walk from the nearest car park, but you can easily combine it with Crantock Beach and if you’re visiting in June, it’s very close to the incredible poppy display.
Here’s what to expect from a visit to Vugga Cove.
The walk to Vugga Cove
The stats
Distance: 510m each way to Vugga Cove, 670m each way to the rockpool
Elevation gain: 70m
Difficulty: Easy
Trailhead: West Pentire Car Park
Summary: The walk to Vugga Cove is all on a maintained path, it’s a touch overgrown at times, but always easy to follow.
There is a little bit of a descent on the way to the cove and then a slight climb back up after your swim. There are some minor rocky patches, but nothing too challenging if you don’t mind a little uneven terrain.
The trail
From the north side of the West Pentire car park, the walk heads downhill on the paved path with lovely sea views.
After 165m you’ll reach a junction, heading left continues on the coast path to Vugga Cove and right will take you to Crantock Beach.
Depending on the tides you’ll either find a superb swimmable cove much like the one at Vugga (high tide) or a lovely sandy beach (low tide).
It’s only a 50m detour each way to reach the beach. There are stairs at first and then you’ll reach a rocky slope down to the beach or cove.
Back on the main track and you’ll continue left along the coast path which gets narrow and a touch overgrown.
The first few metres after the junction with the beach have a lot of stinging nettles, so you’ll want to watch out if you’ve got bare legs!
The track will take you briefly uphill before flattening as you reach a signposted junction, 290m from the car park.
Going left here would take you to see the incredible poppy display if you’re visiting when they’re in bloom (usually late May and through June). It’s just a minute to the first view and a must do if you’ve lucked out with timing.
Otherwise for Vugga Cove you continue to the right and then right again 70m later, followed by another right 80m after that.
You’re now just 75m from the cove and the path heads gently downhill.
Swimming at Vugga Cove
Vugga Cove is a swimmers delight, there are two large inlets with crystal clear water and craggy rock walls.
Swimming is best at high tide when the inlets are full of deep water, as soon as you step off the rocks the water will be around shoulder height and then one step further and you will be out of your depth.
This makes for a very easy swimming experience as you don’t need to worry about shuffling over slippery rock to reach deeper water.
It’s best to visit within a couple of hours either side of high tide and when the swell is slight so that you don’t get knocked around by waves inside the pool.
It’s a sensational place for a dip and offers a huge amount of space for a proper swim without going out into the open sea.
The colour and clarity of the water really adds to the wow factor.
In terms of getting into the water you do need to walk down a rocky slope, but it’s pretty grippy even when wet and it’s tiered nicely down into the pool.
When you get to the end of the dry slope you can just sit down and slide in. Getting out is equally easy as long as it’s not too wavy.
The secluded rockpool nearby
If you arrive to find Vugga Cove is busy you can head back onto the coast path (to the last junction where Vugga Cove was signposted), a couple of minutes from the cove and continue on to a more secluded rockpool.
You would then turn right at the junction (it would be left from the main track if you hadn’t visited Vugga Cove first).
After 100m, as long as the tide is high enough, you’ll see a rock pool below. There’s a steep 30m worn dirt trail leading down to the rocks.
There are footholds in the dirt and a grassy verge on either side of the path helping it feel less exposed. There is then 30m of rock hopping required to reach the rockpool.
When it comes to swimming there is no comparison between the rockpool and Vugga Cove. The latter wins hands down, but for a secluded float the rockpool is lovely.
There are sharp rocks inside the pool, so it’s not really suitable for swimming, but is a nice spot to lay back and relax and climbing into the pool is easy, straight from the rocks and into relatively shallow water.
Parking for Vugga Cove
The nearest car park to Vugga Cove is West Pentire car park, postcode TR8 5SE, which you can find on Google maps here. It’s a pay and display car park and we heard people say that they are hot on checking tickets, so make sure you don’t overrun.
The current charges are £2.50 for up to 2 hours (up to £8 all day) between May and October and 4 hours free/£3.50 all day parking outside of those times.
There’s a toilet in the car park and it’s just in front of the Bowgie Inn if you need a drink or snack.
If this car park is full you can park at the Polly Joke car park, which adds on around 200m each way to the walk and passes all the best viewpoints of the poppy display.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the area, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
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