How it looks out there
Fetching live conditions.
- Feels
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- hourly ›
- Wind
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- compass ›
- Sea
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- tides ›
- Rain
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- hourly ›
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Tide, surf and rain
Going out in a boat? Gale warnings and shipping forecast, Met Office ›
Round the coast
Tap a beach for its forecast
Each beach has a 7 day swell chart, tide and wind.
Surf stats
Next twelve hours
● offshore● cross-shore● onshore wind at Fistral
Which way to go
Worth knowing
Best beach and time
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It opens like an app, works with no signal, and it is the only way surf alerts can reach an iPhone.
- 1Tap the Share button at the bottom of Safari
- 2Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen
- 3Tap Add, then open NQY Now from the new icon
Get in contact
Run somewhere in Newquay? Get it listed. Spotted something wrong? Tell me and I will fix it.
Newquay NOW · Locally built Always in Motion
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Rainy day plan
Today
Run somewhere in Newquay? Get it listed
Tell me the name, the street and the hours and I will add it. Spotted something wrong? Tell me and I will fix it.
Tap the map, or a bus stop (the dots).
Where to?
FromTimes are Go Cornwall Bus’s published timetable from the Bus Open Data Service, valid from 24 September 2026. Where a bus is being tracked, the green Live line under it says where it really is and how late it is running; the rest are the timetable. Direct buses only; Google Maps plans journeys with a change.
Finding bays…
● 3 or more● 1 or 2● empty● parked outside a bay● you
Had a few? Call a cab
Drink driving law covers an e-bike the same as a car, and the hill out of the harbour has beaten better riders than you sober. All four answer around the clock.
Live bay availability from Beryl, updated every few minutes. You still hire and unlock through the Beryl app.
Beach rules
In an emergency on the coast
Call 999Ask for the Coastguard
Say which beach you are on and whether anyone is in the water. If you are with somebody in trouble, stay where you can see them and keep pointing at them for the lifeboat or the helicopter.
Caught in a rip?
- Don't try to swim against it or you'll get exhausted.
- Stay with your board if you have one or 'Float To Live' if you don't.
- If you can stand, wade don't swim.
- If you can, wade or swim parallel to the shore until free of the rip and then head for shore.
- Always raise your hand and shout for help.
Word for word from the RNLI.
What the beach flags mean
- Red and yellow Lifeguards are watching this stretch. The safest place to swim and bodyboard: stay between the two flags.
- Black and white chequered For surfboards, kayaks and other craft. Swimmers and bodyboarders stay out of this zone.
- Red Danger. Never go in the water.
- Orange windsock Offshore or strong wind. Never use an inflatable: it will be blown out to sea.
From the RNLI. No flags means no lifeguards: if you go in, know the water, never go alone, and stay close to shore.
Fistral
Fetching live swell, wind and tide.
- Waves
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- Period
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- Wind
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- Power
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Swell and wind
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- Settings, Apps, then Chrome (or Samsung Internet, whichever NQY Now opens in), Battery: Unrestricted.
- Settings, Battery, Background usage limits: take it off Sleeping and Deep sleeping apps, and turn off "Put unused apps to sleep".
- Check Do Not Disturb or Sleep mode isn’t on until after 6.30.
- Still late? Turn Battery Saver off, or set it to come on only when the battery is low. It can override step 1.
Worth knowing
Lifeguards: cover is seasonal and can change at short notice. No flags, no lifeguards. Check the RNLI before you go in.
Next few days
Beach guide
From local knowledge and published surf guides. Sandbanks move, so check the sea before you go in.
Newquay surf: which beach for a small swell, which for a big one
Newquay faces the Atlantic, but its beaches do not all feel the same swell. Some are wide open and take everything the ocean sends. Others are tucked behind headlands and only get going when the swell is bigger or comes from the right direction.
As a rule, on a small day go to an open beach; on a big day the sheltered ones can be the ones that are surfable. The live report shows the size at each beach, which already allows for this.
Open beaches: they take the full swell
Crantock. Best swell: W, works SW to NW. Watch out for: A long paddle and strong rips in a bigger swell. Never wade the Gannel. The water can be poor after heavy rain.
Fistral. Best swell: W, works SW to NW. Watch out for: Rips, including ones that open without warning when a sandbank collapses.
South Fistral. Best swell: W, works SW to NW. Watch out for: Rips, and the rocks at the south end, which waves can break onto at higher tides.
Little Fistral. Best swell: W, works SW to NW. Watch out for: Rocks both sides, closer as the tide rises. A rip beside the peak. No lifeguards, and cut off on a big tide.
Watergate Bay. Best swell: W, works SW to NW. Watch out for: The tide reaches the cliffs at high water, so you can be cut off. Rips in a bigger swell.
Mawgan Porth. Best swell: W, works SW to NW. Watch out for: Rips, even between the flags, in a big swell on big tides.
Sheltered beaches: they need a bigger swell to get in
Towan. Best swell: W to NW, and it needs some size to get in. Watch out for: Rocks and the harbour end. No real channel, so a lot of paddling. Loose boards.
Great Western. Best swell: W to NW, and it needs a big one to get in. Watch out for: The beach shrinks fast as the tide comes in.
Tolcarne. Best swell: W, works SW to NW. Watch out for: The Wedge breaks hard and close to the cliff.
Lusty Glaze. Best swell: W to NW, sheltered from most. Watch out for: Cliffs all round. Check the tide before walking round from Tolcarne.
Porth. Best swell: W to NW, and it needs plenty of west to get in. Watch out for: A rip by the river mouth, worse on spring tides after rain.
See the swell right now on the Newquay surf report, and which wind suits which beach on the wind page.
About NQY Now
NQY Now is a live guide to Newquay in Cornwall. It shows the surf at Fistral, Little Fistral, Crantock, Towan, Great Western, Tolcarne, Lusty Glaze, Porth, Watergate Bay and Mawgan Porth, ranks them against each other and says which one is best right now and why.
It also gives tide times, the window when the tide drops far enough to walk the sand from Newquay Harbour to Lusty Glaze, coast path walks including Towan Head, Porth Island, West Pentire to Polly Joke, Bedruthan Steps and Holywell, RNLI lifeguard cover, seasonal dog rules, live Beryl e-bike and scooter availability, and what is open in town.
Built and kept up to date locally. Free to use, no account, no adverts.
© 2026 NQY Now. All rights reserved. The app, its design, words and listings may not be copied or reused without permission. Surf calls are a guide, not safety advice: small print and privacy. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors; weather from Open-Meteo; bus times from the Bus Open Data Service.