Travel: Cornwall

AS we explore the huge beach at Mawgan Porth, the sun dropping from the sky, feeling the sand between our toes and hearing the crash of waves, it feels as though the holiday has properly begun.

Yet this break to the west coast of Cornwall hasn’t come after a hideously long drive, but a short flight from Glasgow to Newquay Airport.

As veterans of many a roadtrip to Europe, it is the kind of luxury that leaves you smiling. I was smiling, too, in recognition of an area last visited in my childhood. I had never been to Mawgan Porth itself, but descending the steep road to the village centre, we lose all mobile phone reception and seem to slip through a gap in time, arriving in the Cornwall of my past.

The beach is the biggest trigger. With high cliffs on either side, it is a bowl cut into the rocky coast. Atlantic waves roll in, the spectacular tides driving the cold water far up the beach. There are caves on one side, revealed as the tide departs, perfect for this not so famous five to explore. This is a place for sandcastle cities, with moats and seaweed and shell decoration.

But unlike the 1970s, when shivering bathers were driven out of the waves after a few minutes – I manage half an hour before my legs are numb – the sea is filled with children splashing around. The answer lies in the wetsuits most people seem to have. Far from a fussy luxury, they make a huge difference to how long one can stay in the water.

We discover this for ourselves during a two-hour surfing lesson on our first full day. The team at King Surf School, led by Pete Abel and run out of a modest wooden hut in Mawgan Porth, is just about the most enthusiastic group of people one could ever wish to meet.

Under their tutelage, our two daughters are standing on their boards catching a wave inside 20 minutes. Another 20 minutes later and I have joined them, feeling the thrill as I manage to get to my feet as the wave shoots me along. Our instructors go by nicknames such as Scuba, Big Tom and Little Tom and they constantly encourage, cheer and high-five with the children as they make progress.

Exhausted, we have only a five-minute walk to The Park, our home for the week. A year-round park with accommodation ranging from yurts and silver, US-style Airstream caravans to Nordic-inspired eco lodges, this is a superior base from which to holiday. We have one of the latter, a wooden three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with sliding doors which lead to a wraparound terrace. There is a wood-burning stove, but as we are here during one of summer’s finer weeks, we have to keep most of the windows open during the day, such is its effective insulation. On site is an excellent indoor pool, sauna and steam room which is attached to the park’s cafe, while nearby is the outdoor pool. The play area includes a trampoline and some good wooden climbing frames and a swing.

In the village there are a couple of pubs – the Fire Cafe Bar and Grill is worth a visit – and a few stores selling seaside gear and groceries. Supermarkets are a little further afield, at Newquay and Padstow. The former is more of a party than beauty spot, the latter a picture-postcard port now landing rather more tourists than fish. Rick Stein is a major player in matters culinary here, with four restaurants, three shops and a cook school. We eat some croissants from his patisserie at the dockside and later have lunch at his cafe, which is child-friendly and not too expensive.

It is a lovely town for a stroll around, where holiday money is spent and photographs of fishing boats taken. The main supermarket is well away from the town centre, so you can get in and out relatively painlessly if you want.

We have a car and a map of Cornwall and a list of places we can visit, but as the sun greets us each day we decide to do a little less and enjoy a little more of the simple delights of our week by the seaside, dividing our time between the beach and the pool, with a coastal walk thrown in for good measure (OK, that bit was a nightmare as we had a mutiny in the ranks). There is rockpool exploring, more surfing lessons, the odd lunch or dinner out, a round of crazy golf, a book or two read and a mobile phone that resolutely refuses to ring. Heaven.

THE FACTS:

Loganair has taken over the Glasgow to Newquay route from Air Southwest. The season begins from 5 April with flights from £64.99 one-way inc taxes, see www.flybe.com

One week in a three-bedroom eco lodge at The Park, Mawgan Porth, costs from £722 to £1,524 depending on the season. See www.mawganporth.co.uk

A two-hour lesson at King Surf School costs £30, with discounts for extra lessons, www.kingsurf.co.uk