Johnny Depp has set his sights on Cornwall. Well, maybe not Johnny himself but the producers behind the fourth instalment of The Pirates of the Caribbean. Filming is going to take place in picturesque St Ives (parts of it at least — the rest will be shot in Hawaii) and it’s likely to give the county its biggest tourist boost since the Eden Project started.
With its delightful maze of cobbled streets, three beaches and Tate St Ives, this former pilchard fishing port already attracts thousands of tourists every summer. The Sparrow crew hitting the seaside will only swell the ranks. So if you want to visit before the hordes, the best time to do so would be now.
Cornwall out of season is a very different place to Cornwall in August: it’s cheaper, quieter and sometimes the weather can surprise you. And so we found ourselves on St Ives’ Porthminster beach bathed in sunshine in what had otherwise been a nuclear winter (although to be honest, it had snowed earlier that morning).
Minutes from the centre of St Ives, Porthminster is an urban beach at its finest. With its yellow sand and jade green water, on a sunny day (and with the right camera angles), you could definitely pretend you were in the Caribbean. But apart from us — six adults, four boisterous children, two curious toddlers — we were sharing it with one other family. The translucent waters are recommended by the Good Beach Guide, but obviously no one would swim — or even paddle — in Cornwall in March.
Instead we played football, built sandcastles, spotted seals and searched rockpools (delightfully it felt a bit like being in a Boden catalogue), before toddling up to the Porthminster café. Nestled beneath the steep slopes of Porthminster Point, right on the beach, it’s not so much a café as a sophisticated foodie destination, which regularly makes the best-places-to-eat lists. It specialises in fresh local seafood, but we tucked into teacakes and coffees on the terrace. Blankets are thoughtfully provided but it was so warm, we didn’t need them.
St Ives itself is mesmerising. It’s no wonder that the British sculptor Barbara Hepworth made her home here (the Hepworth Museum and garden are captivating), and Turner and Whistler were regular visitors. But we missed the town in favour of another beach, St Ives Harbour beach. The weather got warmer and this time we shared the sand with a handful of dog walkers (dogs allowed out of season) and other optimistic families. The afternoon was punctuated with regular food and drink breaks: beers in The Sloop, a pub used by fishermen since the 14th century, delicious fish and chips from the Balancing Eel and Cornish ice cream.
One of the best places to stay is Mor Kernow, a four-bedroom apartment that sits high enough above the town to afford it amazing views, but just five minutes from Porthminster beach and a couple of minutes from the centre of town (from £412 a week, aspects-holidays.co.uk). It sleeps eight and has parking, so is perfect for families or film crew. Unusually for St Ives, it even has a garden. But that’s not the main attraction: sitting on the cosy balcony with a glass of wine looking out to sea over St Ives Bay and across to Godrevy Lighthouse is the perfect way to end a perfect day. And we didn’t even get to Tate St Ives.
