Mousehole Rock Pool
Local highlightBig, shallow and free, the village sea pool on the rocks south of Mousehole harbour, built by volunteers in the early 1970s
Open accessfree, no booking; the sea covers the pool at high tide, so go around low tide
Looking out to St Clement’s Isle, the small rocky island off the harbour, Mousehole Rock Pool was built by Mousehole volunteers on Crown Estate foreshore after Cornwall County Council approved the plans in 1969, and swimmers have used it since the early 1970s. Since 2023 a new charity, the Friends of Mousehole Rock Pool, has been restoring the pool, with a new walkway, an accessible slipway and repairs in dark marine concrete chosen to match the local rock. The sea covers the pool at high tide and refills it, so go around low tide. Swimming is free with no booking, and the water is unheated sea water. If you’d rather swim somewhere heated, Jubilee Pool is about 3km up the coast in Penzance, and Penzance station is about 4km north.
