Paddleboarding in Cornwall: SUP down the river Fowey

Paddleboarding in Cornwall

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog, today’s post is all about paddleboarding in Cornwall. My friends and I have recently started up stand up paddleboarding and it’s amazing. We’ve been down the river Fowey 3 times in the past few months!

The benefits of paddleboarding

SUP is a great way to get outside, especially during lockdown as it is classed as a sport.
It’s a socially distant sport, everyone has their own paddle board. You don’t want to get close to each other anyway otherwise you will run the risk of falling in!
Allows you to do water sports even through the chilly winter, you don’t actually have to get wet unlike other sports (that’s if you don’t fall in!) I however, would dress up warm, wear your wetsuit, gloves and boots and a wooly hat as you can see pictured.
It’s a great way to exercise, paddleboarding is great for your core as you are using it keep balance. Also I find my arms get a great workout too!
You can go anywhere there is flat water, unlike surfing you don’t necessarily need to wait for the right conditions, (just a decent weather day.)
Once you have the equipment it’s a relatively cheap activity. Sometimes you may have to pay for car parking or a packed lunch.

Equipment

As mentioned the initial cost of paddleboarding can be fairly expensive, a good blow up paddleboard can set you back a few hundred pounds.

Sam and his friends thoroughly recommend the Bluefin brand, currently they have a black Friday deal on which is at a great price! I will leave a link here to the Bluefin Cruise pack.* It literally comes with everything you will need apart from personal clothing!

The brand of paddleboard I have is from the Schooner in Looe which comes at a slightly cheaper price. However, it doesn’t perform as well as the Bluefin, you do get what you pay for. The Bluefin’s are definitely a lot more stable. I will upgrade one day when its time has come. However, if you’re a beginner and want something to try out and see if you enjoy the sport, the paddleboard I have is from the Hydro-force brand and you can find it here.*

Apart from a paddleboard I would also highly recommend a good wetsuit*. I often get mine from the Ann’s Cottage warehouse or if you’re looking for cheaper brands TWF* is pretty good and they’re Cornish!

You will also want to probably get some gloves* and boots* as honestly in the winter these parts of your body do get pretty cold out on the water.

And for safety reasons of course a lifejacket/buoyancy aid* is a necessity.

EQUIPMENT

Bluefin Cruise Paddleboard set*

Hydro-Force Paddleboard set*

Non-essential equipment

Some non-essential equipment I recommend to enhance your paddleboard experience is a waterproof phone case*. I do believe you get one included when you buy the Bluefin package*. This is so you can take some cool snaps while out on the water, but it’s also there in case of an emergency. They’re handy as you can hang them around your neck.

You may also want a dry bag* to put all the stuff you don’t want getting wet in, like your lunch! The one linked also comes with a waterproof phone case.

A flask to keep your hot beverages in, especially nice when it’s cold. I recommend the brand S’well*, they can also keep drinks cold.

You may also want good pair of sunnies for those bright days out on the water. These ones* are designed exactly for this.

Suncream to stop you from a getting a horrific burn from a day out on the water. I personally love La Roche Posay Anthelios* or P20* as it is waterproof and isn’t sticky.

And if you want to share your experiences with others then a GoPro* is great, the Bluefin paddleboards actually come with a built in mount for GoPro’s.

Non-essesntial equipment

Waterproof phone case*

map taken from Fowey river hire

Where to go and tips?

Luckily in Cornwall we have so many places to chose from when it come to SUP. Anywhere there is a nice bit of water, make it yours!

The most popular places I can think of are: Fowey river, Fal river and Falmouth. Most of these places you will be able to find a rental service if you haven’t got your own board. If you do know of any other places do let me know by contacting me on instagarm, I’m @melissa_carne.

I would highly recommend trying out rivers if it is your first time as then you won’t be battling the waves! You just want to time it well with the tides, make sure the river is deep enough and try to paddle with the tide (it’s hard work if not!)

The great thing with paddleboards is that you can actually use them to surf too! We tried this out at Crantock a few times, they’re obviously just a bit harder to control so just watch out for the people around you!

Summary

I hope you enjoyed this blog post about paddleboarding in Cornwall. This is still a fairly new adventure of mine so I am sure there will be a lot more updates and posts to come.

While you’re here and looking for routes to paddleboard why not check out my blog posts on Fowey and Falmouth and see what the towns also have to offer. I would highly recommend checking out harbour lights in Falmouth for fish and chips, I think that may be our next trip!

Lots of love, Melissa x

All links marked with an * are an affiliate link, check out my shop page to read more about this.

Paddleboarding in Cornwall