Surfing at Bantham & Bigbury

With thanks to Dave White (Club Member) for this information. It was originally written as a post in our Members forum and so is one man's personal opinion but as we find it useful we've stolen it and put it here so everyone can benefit from his wisdom!

At Bantham, it can get very busy by the rip and the rocks to the left (when looking out to sea) and the river mouth can also be rippy (to the right) either on a big running tide or on big waves, or worse if both. It's generally smaller as you go from left to right as the SW swell is sheltered by a Burgh Island. Most swells are SW so this general rule mostly applies. Bigbury, further right still, is likewise mostly a tad smaller.

Low tide gets very dumpy so best avoided. Depending on the swell period (seconds, interval) low tide can add a dumpy foot to magic seaweeds prediction and a big hide tide can see 1-2 ft taken off. So 3 ft on a big spring low tide is a dumpy 5 and best avoided! The river would run quickly then too. The river can provide a nice wave here at mid to hi tide, and I've enjoyed many a nice evening wave up the river.