Lamorna Cove

Lamorna Cove

Lamorna Cove
2.5
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  • Paul B
    Liverpool, United Kingdom3 contributions
    2.0 of 5 bubbles
    Not a lot to see in Lamorna Cove
    Visited Lamorna Cove on a grey wet day in July 2024, the weather probably didn’t do it any favours, but I found it so disappointing. Aside from a lovely cafe/restaurant on the harbour, serving many variations of Cornish crab dishes, there is not a lot there. It pains me to say this as I’ve been visiting Cornwall for 40 years, and I love it.
    Visited July 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 5 August 2024
  • Sue B
    2 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Know the car park rules and you’ll be OK
    I used to complain about the car park charge, but I’ve just been to Woolacombe in Devon where all the beach car parks charge £12 for the day. No hourly rates. £12 or £12! But be aware, if you go into the Lamorna car park you have to pay. No if’s, no buts, no excuses. Overstay and you get fined. And the meter only takes cash. Understand the rules and you will be OK.
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 29 August 2024
  • Robert K
    4 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    An ethereal experience
    From the television programmes we've seen featuring coastal walks, Lamorna has always looked a picturesque and peaceful place that we thought we would visit ourselves on one of our many visits to Cornwall. We could only describe the place as unique and unlike anywhere else we have ever visited. Many reviewers have commented that there isn't much there but that's part of the charm as the scenery is what gives it such an ethereal feel to it. We recognise the difficulties many have had with the car parking but we were lucky as we had cash with us and actually paid more than we needed to so hopefully have avoided any fines! The one issue we did have just before we were leaving not long after 5pm was a swarm of insects in the car park that virtually covered the car which spoilt the end of our visit. It would be interesting to know from anyone else if this was a common occurrence down there or if it was just the case we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    Visited October 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 2 November 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

2.5
2.5 of 5 bubbles614 reviews
Excellent
144
Very good
104
Average
61
Poor
45
Terrible
260

Just Being Curt
London, UK4 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022
An absolutely beautiful place! Unfortunately let down by the landowner and operators nefarious private parking practices.
Make sure you bring lots of change!!! Whilst there are notices leading up to the car park telling you that it is a private road, and car park is private property, what the notices do not tell you (before you enter and ANPR has already clocked you in!) is that you can only pay for your parking...... with coins! Yep, no notes, no cards, no contactless, no mobile parking app. Coins only folks!
This despite the parking terminals on site being relatively modern and fully capable of offering card/contactless payments. Notice on the machines says "Card payment currently unavailable". The parking operator has ANPR enabled and their terminals are remotely monitored just proving the point that connectivity is available should the landowner and operator choose to provide mobile and/or card/contactless payments facilities. They have purposefully chosen not to offer the option so that they can purposefully scam unwitting travellers and holidaymakers into a £100 parking charge.
Best of luck! Hope you enjoy your time at the beautiful Lamorna Cove.
Written 30 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

UKHec
Market Harborough, United Kingdom395 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022 • Family
Lamorna Cove is incredibly pretty in the right light but there’s not much to do; you can swim a bit but it looked uninviting, and its one café is overpriced and understaffed. The drive down is incredibly beautiful, but single track, so if you can’t reverse don’t put yourself through the stress.

The Cove is privately owned and have just been issued with a £100 fine (£60 if paid within 14 days) for overstaying my car park ticket by half an hour, so do make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to you.
Written 5 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Emma O
Stalybridge, UK16 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2021 • Couples
Staying in the area so chose to walk down to Lamorna Cove. There have been lots of issues posted on here about parking and needing change, so we chose to walk instead.
The views of the cove are beautiful and we managed to take some lovely photographs of the water.
However there isn’t exactly much to it. The local cafe and pub were closed, and the cove itself is quite small.
If you have a spare 15 minutes to visit or really enjoy walking the coastal path it’s worth a visit, but not much else going on.
Written 3 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cornishmaid
5 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2023
Another nice place to visit but sadly the car park is policed by one of those private faceless companies, employed by the landowner. They sting you for a £60-£100 fine if you overrun on your stay, even by a few minutes. Selling the quaint Cornish "Poldark Country" pretty Instagram message but in reality, like many other places like this, simply another money grabbing tourist trap. These car park practices will kill cafes, potteries etc by putting visitors off. Won't bother going back there again until wealthy landowner changes parking system so that you are clocked as you enter and pay as you leave, being charged the correct amount for the time you have been there. Anything else is designed to rely on you being distracted for long enough to overstay and so line their bulging pockets. Shame. Cafe owners and other business in Lamorna - please PLEASE get together and get this daylight robbery stopped. It does you so much damage.
Written 31 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Stay604202
5 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2024 • Family
DO NOT GO HERE!!!
It is a rip off to fine you for parking. We paid cash (had to buy something from cafe to get change) and because that took time, I got a £100 fine, £60 if paid in 14 days. Is a total scam to fleece unsuspecting tourists and they sell the debt on….cannot believe this is legal.
Written 15 October 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Maria P
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Family
I received a letter from Debt Recovery Plus about outstanding parking charges of £170, which caught me off guard. There is a disability sign at the beach, but if you don't use glasses, you can't notice the tiny print that says "must pay" underneath it. Debt Recovery Plus and they informed me of the tiny print message. I suggest deleting the disabled sign. What is its purpose?
Written 28 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Frank Horstmamn
London, UK20 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2023 • Friends
Upon our arrival at Lamorna Cove, we embarked on a delightful stroll towards Mousehole. However, upon approaching the parking payment machines, we immediately noticed a limitation – they only accepted cash, exclusively in coins, and did not facilitate card payments or accept bills.

Given this constraint, we had to settle for a 4-hour parking duration because we lacked the necessary change for the 8-hour option. Regrettably, our walk ended up taking slightly over 4 hours, resulting in the issuance of a parking fine. Despite my efforts to contest it, the appeal was ultimately rejected.

My attempt to communicate the issue via email to Cornwall Council also proved unfruitful, as they indicated that the matter pertained to private land and was beyond their purview. It's disheartening to witness such a stunning location in Cornwall marred by the actions of a few greedy individuals. My strong recommendation is to steer clear of this location at all costs. Personally, I have no intentions of returning.
Written 25 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sean S
3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022 • Family
A group of us drove to this cove in 4 cars at 17:50, parked for 29 minutes and were subsequently fined £240 for parking. We did not know that parking charges were in place as we hadn't seen the signs. This is simply a legalized scam and has meant that we will probably not return to Cornwall. It is truly disgusting that we could be charged that much to take a couple of photos at what is surely a public beach.
Written 30 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

AWebb2014
Southampton, UK69 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2020 • Couples
The cove after a long drive down the valley is, breathtaking.
The same can be said for the parking fees and fines.
You have 5 minutes before charges kick in, there is no app to make payment or contact details for payment to be made by phone, but they have CCTV that picks up your registration.

If the machine is broken you will receive a fine of £100 plus £15 admin charges and 50p to process payment if you exceed 5 minutes, even though we checked at the cafe and they said it would be fine due to the machine being broken.
We have since found out that if the machine is broken, as it was when we visited, it isn't fine, you have 5 minutes to get out of there or you will get a PCN sent to you and a fight on your hands.

Such a shame that this cove has not adopted the payment methods that other areas have adopted throughout Cornwall. Driver beware. Its beautiful but costly.

I fought mine as the company that administers the fines did not contact me in a timely manner and I got it reduced but it was very hard work. The onus being placed on the driver to prove that they had not contacted me, but I still had to pay £60.50 for 23 mins and 36 seconds of parking in a car park where I was unable to pay due to their faulty equipment. Nearly £2.50 per minute.

Driver beware, a visit to Lamorna could be one of the biggest costs of your holiday.
Written 28 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Crystal
Cornwall, UK31 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020
It's all about the underwater world here. Snorkelling and diving are amazing. If snorkelling head out *around* the breakwater then along the rocks for an amazing experience, like being in an aquarium. Easy shore diving for scuba too as you can kit up at your car then it's straight down the slipway. Fantastic conditions. There are toilets and a cafe on-site (with outdoor tap).

This is truly one of the most beautiful and accessible dives in Cornwall - it's right up there with Porthkerris, and for snorkelling I'd go as far to say as it has the edge.

The site is very sheltered is less weather dependent than other sites (it's more protected from easterlies than Porthkerris).

Downside is the parking is a bit of a mess. There's not many spaces so get here early if you can. Car park machine only takes coins (no cards and there's no app). Pay first before doing anything else as the grace period is pretty short and apparently they have ANPR cameras (I've never had a problem myself, but others have).
Written 28 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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