Short answer: Use bacon on a string, not a hooked line, and bring a net. Mid-tide is best. The South Quay wall is the spot, and the gulls here are bold enough to take your bait bucket.
Padstow's sheltered harbour makes it one of the more reliable crabbing spots on the north coast, and it's free.
The South Quay wall gives good depth at most states of tide and enough room to spread out. It gets busy in August — earlier in the day is calmer and the crabs are no less obliging.
Bacon tied to string beats anything shop-bought. It stays on, it smells strongly in water, and crabs grip it rather than needing to be hooked.
A drop net does the job far better than a hooked crabbing line, which risks injuring the crab and loses you more of them on the lift.
Mid-tide is the sweet spot — enough depth to keep bait submerged, not so much that the harbour bed is out of reach.
Keep the bucket in shade with fresh sea water, don't overcrowd it, and return everything where you found it before you leave.
Padstow's gulls are genuinely bold. Keep bait covered and don't leave food unattended, even for a moment.
Several shops around the harbour sell basic crabbing kits — bucket, line and net — for a few pounds. Cheaper than you'd expect, and it saves carrying it down from the car park.
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