Chapel Rock Pool
Local highlightPerranporth's little sea pool, walled across a gap in Chapel Rock out on the beach and filled by every high tide since 1959
Open accessfree, no booking; reached across the beach and covered at high tide, so go around low tide
Chapel Rock is the outcrop standing on its own on Perranporth beach, usually with Cornwall’s black-and-white St Piran’s flag flying from the top. In 1959 the builders E Thomas & Co walled across a gap in the rock to make a sea pool, paid for by local donations and Perranzabuloe Parish Council, and it opened on 19 October that year. The sea covers the pool at high tide and refills it, and as the water drops away you can walk out across the sand for a dip. Swimming is free with no booking, the water is unheated sea water, and the best time to go is around low tide. The sands run north from here towards Penhale Sands, and Newquay station is about 9km north-east.
