St Mawes, Cornwall

pilot cutters in St Mawes Bay

This is the home port of Classic Sailing. A seafaring village on the East side of Falmouth Harbour.

Latest Updates

Where to Meet in St Mawes to Join Tallulah

Updated 7-03-23

The historic Quay in St Mawes Harbour (TR2 5DW) is the official rendezvous for all Tallulah Voyages. Plan your travel for the quay in your first instance.

Tallulah has a mooring in St Mawes Bay. Skipper Debbie or the mate will normally meet you at the quay steps /harbour pontoon in Tallulah’s tender – a large blue rowing boat with ‘8’ on the side.

 

Bad Weather Alternative Ports

In the event of St Mawes being exposed to strong winds / big seas from the west or SW, we may start the voyage from more sheltered waters. This is likely to be the River Fal – Smugglers moorings near St Mawes or Falmouth Estuary. 

Debbie will contact you at least 48hrs before the voyage with final joining instructions by email and text. All confirmed customers will be sent Debbies mobile number for emergencies or late arrival.

 

How to Get Here

By Road & Parking

The A30 is the best route into Cornwall for St Mawes – if you follow a Sat Nav you will probably be taken via King Harry Car Ferry which is not the quickest route but is worth doing for the experience.

The best way is to leave the A30 at Fraddon and follow the B3275 until it meets the A390 where you turn left for a little way back towards St Austell. Then follow the signs to the right for the A3078 which ends in St Mawes.

There are two car parks in St Mawes both trouble free and you can pay by card

St Mawes Quay Car Park is very convenient as it is where you join your voyage but is a little more expensive.

St Mawes Central Car Park run by the St Just in Roseland Parish Council  is recommended. It is just a minute walk from the Quay.

You can pay for a number of days with a debit card

There is  free street parking in the roads up from the main beach, if you can find a space. Buckeys Lane is one way so please park on the right. The private roads of Pedn Moran or Freshwater Lane are popular with beach visitors and holiday cottage customers. Local residents are used to mystery cars parked outside for several days, as long as no drives are blocked, it seems the accepted thing. As with all street parking please make sure there is room for fire engines to get through. From any of these roads the Quay is about 5 minutes walk.

Rail & transfers

To get to St Mawes by train, buy a ticket for Falmouth Town Station, walk down to the waterfront and come across the water from Falmouth to St Mawes by passenger ferry.

Falmouth is on a branch line from Truro which is on the main London – Penzance rail line.  Trains come into Cornwall to Truro from many parts of the UK and it is only 30 minutes down the branch line to Falmouth. Beware there are several small stations in Falmouth. Get off at Falmouth Town Station.

https://www.raileasy.co.uk

Falmouth Town Station (the Dell) is ten minutes walk from Customs House Quay where one of three ferries runs to St Mawes in the summer. If you just miss a ferry there are other departures to St Mawes from Prince of Wales Pier, the other side of town. In the winter – all ferries run from Prince of Wales Pier only. It is about 15 minutes walk through the town to the Prince of Wales Pier.

Ferry is the best way. St Mawes Passenger Ferry timetable for both piers https://www.falriver.co.uk/ferries/st-mawes-ferry/timetable. This has a live update to confirm which ferries are running on the day. It only stops in really bad weather.

St Mawes Ferry  01872 861 911 or 07855 438 674

 Ferries are hourly in winter and three per hour in the summer and the journey is 20-25 minutes.

Buses

There are buses from Truro to St Mawes but they are very infrequent and take about an hour. 

Air & transfers

Newquay is the nearest airport but it is poorly served by public transport. A taxi to St Mawes can cost over £60

Feeling Guilty? – Carbon Offsetting Schemes

Classic Sailing recommend Treesisters charity as a carbon offsetting scheme and we have our own Classic Sailing Forest you can add tree planting to. These community tree planting schemes are all in parts of the world that desperately need reforestation and have maximum scope to reduce CO2

https://treesisters.org/fundraisers/classic-sailing-forest-1

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