Drive up the A39 from bude. Get to the devon/cornwall border. Follow signs to welcombe mouth. Park in the carpark and walk out to the cliff. Marsland point is wave breaking along the side of the point to your left. Climb over the rocks and paddle out. Marsland river is the Devon-Cornwall border.
Marsland Mouth is where the good stuff happens. You can either paddle from welcombe or walk from Mead. There is a righthander which peels off the set of rocks which the welcombe left peels off. This works from lowish to midish and is long, steep and has a huge shoulder. It isn’t epic though. The left point breaking off the rocks to the south of the right is truly epic. Walls come bending around the end of the point and stand up before peeling all the way down the point. You can choose where you take off. The further out the more mad you have to be. This works after mid tide on the push. If it is above shoulder high you can expect epic waves. This is fast powerful and amazing. You have to be pretty experienced to pull this off. The point setup is virtually identical to Millook. The wave starts off with a more do-able section before peeling into the second take off zone. It then speeds up and gets very fast and hairy on the inside before giving you a little bit of sand to kick out onto. Across from the point there is a righthand slab/point which offers very steep faces with hardly any shoulder. It can get epic but if the swell is too big and the tide too low, It may get sectiony and dangerously shallow. The wave finishes over sand but it can section and the takeoff will close out when the tide is too low or the swell too large. It will handle virtually anything. Marsland Rights is the wave on the other side of this point. It requires the same tides and is a bit more exposed to wind than the left. It can give a long ride although you have to decide how you will get there. Either a long paddle or cliff climb. It is not possible to climb here from Marsland Mouth. Due to the access problems little is known about this break but it is there and can go off.
Overview
Atmosphere
This place could be on the moon. You can see no sign of civilisation at all and the rocks of the point in one place have been eroded away so the strata are exposed in concentric circles like a cut onion. There is a weird islandy thing off the end of the point which is a strange shape. Welcombe where you park has a little waterfall and round browny red boulders which make great paperweights.
General
Makes an alternative to the hustle and bustle of Millook. It is a lovely wave and there are no locals. Just people who come here to surf and hang out. It is a really nice place to surf. Not the wildest pointbreak but 10 times better than millook.
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Fond Memories
A lot of fond memories surfing this place, both with a crowd and alone from a couple of ft to well o'head. It's not suprising that the secret has been blown, they all do in the end. Though as with all the other "secret spots" the best waves are had on certain tide, swell and wind combinations. The best way to catch those memorable days is to do the time and learn how the various waves in the area work and you will be rewarded (and frustrated) in the process generally in the absence of company.No it is not a spot for someone who has just learnt. Your feet tap the rock that causes the boil on mid sized days and the inside slab sucks dry on small days, and getting caught in the rocks is "interesting".Be respectful of the locals and you might just get a smile and keep your wing mirrors and maybe even a few waves. If you are good enough you will get your waves and letting a few go by won't hurt there will be plenty more.
comment by south sider, 2007-02-04 10:01:42
Yeah, ditto
Only works when it's about 8ft and maxed out on beaches. Make sure you get in at low tide, coz thats when it's best. To get back in, wait til it's nice and high and then gun stright for the centre of the beach. It might look like big shorey, but get on, you'll be fine.
comment by dolittle, 2007-01-07 15:24:41
Easy paddle, nice wave
Don't believe the hype. This place is easy to surf. Just make sure you enter and exit in the middle away from the rocks to the left and you'll be alright.
Read - (33) Comments concerning Marsland Point (left).
comment by Anonymous, 2007-07-08 05:03:15