Short answer: Watch from high ground set well back — Compass Point at Bude, Pendennis Point, the top of the Towans at Godrevy, the Lizard lighthouse car park, the road above Sennen. Never from harbour walls, piers, breakwaters or the bottom of cliffs: Porthleven's pier, Bude's breakwater and Newlyn's harbour wall are where people get killed.
This is one of our town-by-town winter guides — the full county picture is in Christmas and New Year in Cornwall 2026.
A big Atlantic storm on the Cornish coast is one of the best free shows in Britain, and every winter it kills someone who stood in the wrong place. The difference between the two is about fifty metres of height and the sense to stay behind a wall. Here's where to go and where not to.
Safe spots — high and set back
- Compass Point Bude — the headland above Summerleaze, a hundred feet up, the whole bay boiling below. Park in town, walk up. Not the breakwater.
- Pendennis Point, Falmouth — a car park on a headland; you can watch from the car.
- Godrevy — the National Trust car park and the cliff top above the lighthouse; a sea that fills the whole horizon.
- Lizard Point — the lighthouse car park, high, with a wall between you and it.
- Land's End — the paths above the cliffs; stay on them.
- Bedruthan Steps — the cliff-top path, never the steps.
- The Godolphin, Marazion's big window — the civilised option with a pint.
Places that look safe and aren't
- Porthleven Harbour — the most photographed storm in Britain, from the pier and the clock tower. People are washed off the pier. The safe view is from the road above the harbour on the west side, behind the railings.
- Bude Breakwater — closed in big seas; waves come over it whole.
- Newlyn and Penzance harbour walls and the prom — the prom is shut in storms for good reason.
- Any beach at high tide in a swell — the wave that reaches you is the one you didn't see.
- Tintagel's steps and bridge — the bridge closes in high wind; don't be on the island when it does.
The rules
- Check the tide. Storm plus high tide plus low pressure is the combination that reaches car parks.
- Stay behind something — a wall, a railing, a car.
- Dogs on leads, children by the hand; both underestimate waves.
- If the coastguard has taped it off, that's the answer.
- Never turn your back on the sea for a photo.
When
The Met Office names the storms; the surf forecasts (Magicseaweed's successors, Windy) show the swell size. Twenty-foot-plus at Sennen with a spring tide is the day. Our winter guide has what's open afterwards for the warm-up.
Pick a town and plan the day around who's with you.
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