Cornwall Wildlife Safaris

Arrival in Newquay: Arrival is flexible, just let us know in advance your time of arrival and mode of transport (whether it be bus, train or plane!). We will come and collect you and take you to the accommodation. Once all guests have arrived, we will take a walk around the headland and onto the beach (a chance to get our toes wet and maybe even have a dip!) before heading back to the accommodation for dinner and to discuss the week ahead!

After breakfast, we will travel over to the beautiful Padstow to head out on a private boat tour with the renowned Padstow Sealife Safaris. They are a small, family-run, local operator with some of the best boat tours in the county. Conservation is at the heart of what they do, and on each trip, they record their sightings for Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Each tour is carried out safely and securely with wildlife ethics at the forefront. We will spend two hours out at sea looking for cetaceans, seals, gannets and anything else that makes an appearance! This tour will be led by one of their expert guides with lots of photography opportunities. Warm clothes and waterproofs are required as the rib can pick up some speed.

Ferry across to Rock - Lunch

After lunch we will hike The South West Coast Path towards Pentire Point and the Rumps. The area is known to be one of the most breath-taking stretches of the North Cornwall coast. It’s a hotspot for skylarks, peregrines, and corn buntings, as well as a chance to spot common and bottlenose dolphin pods. We will delve into the fascinating geology and history of the area and make the most of photo opportunities before heading back to Newquay where we will have dinner together.

An early start before we head off to explore the golden glow of spectacular Cornish woodland in autumn. One of the most magical seasons for our woodland areas, we will delve into the world of field signs, fungi, local bird life and spend some time attempting to photograph our only aquatic songbird here in the UK—the dipper. It is also a great season to spot jays stashing acorns and mixed flocks of our finches and tits amongst the golden colours of the changing leaves.

Lunch

In the afternoon we will visit one of the most important bird areas in the county—Hayle Estuary. The RSPB-owned site can accommodate thousands of waders in peak season and is a vital habitat all year round for hundreds of species. There are many different vantage points including Ryans Field, which is home to kingfishers. The estuary is a birder’s paradise with the likes of redshank, lapwing, pink-footed geese, dunlin, herons, greenshank, wigeon, teal, and oystercatchers and more all being present this time of year. Once back in Newquay, we will enjoy dinner together.

We will stay a little closer to home before our big night ahead and visit a favourite site, Porth Reservoir. Tucked away in a valley close to where you will be staying is a beautiful location surrounded by woodland and a designated sanctuary. The surrounding woodland is home to deer and the reservoir is known for its great crested grebes and kingfishers.

Lunch

After lunch we will head to the famous Cornwall Beaver Project. One of the flagship sites here in the UK that has championed beaver reintroduction since the arrival of their first beavers in 2017. We will spend the afternoon with one of the experts on site and have our very own private tour hearing all about the habitat and the further rewilding progress happening at Woodland Valley Farm. The site itself has become an oasis for wildlife since the beavers have been there and it truly is one of Cornwall’s gems! The beavers are active all year round, but due sunset at around 7pm, we would have to be incredibly lucky to spot one in the daylight. However, we will stop and have something to eat before we head off on a BEAVER NIGHT SAFARI!

Armed with red torches we will have a tour of the beaver ponds at night where we may be able to get a glimpse of these elusive mammals as they carry out their nightly feeding duties whilst also listening out for tawny owls and other creatures of the dark.

Today we will spend the entire day exploring the most southerly point in the UK which is famed for its incredible biodiversity—the Lizard Peninsular. Known to have over 250 species of either national or international importance, we will hike along the South West Coast Path and delve into the fascinating geology of the area. Choughs, kestrels and peregrines are seen regularly along the cliffs and, if conditions are good, the area is a great spot of any potential whale sightings. Given the time of year we may be lucky and spot autumnal migrants such as ring ouzel or even short eared owls as they arrive. We will also have the opportunity to visit Windmill Farm or Goonhilly downs, both excellent hunting spots for raptors such as buzzards, merlin, and barn owls.

For our final day we will stay closer to home, heading to the Gannel Estuary, a site of special scientific interest. We will make our way over to Crantock Beach and Polly Joke and across Kelsey Headland. This is a fantastic walk where we will aim to see seals and discuss the conservation efforts going on to protect our colonies here in Cornwall. This walk is excellent for the likes of gannets, fulmars and close views of kestrels.

We will stop for lunch along the walk before heading back to the accommodation and that evening, we will all head out for a slap up meal at a local restaurant, the price of which is covered by us including your first alcoholic drink.

Check out of the accommodation will be 12pm, so feel free to have a bit of a lay in before your onward journey home!