I think we will always remember our first post lockdown weekend away. The freedom was intoxicating. And despite hastily arranging our stay at Perran Sands in Cornwall, it turned out to be the perfect getaway. Here’s our Haven Perran Sands Holiday Park review.
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Three weeks before travel restrictions eased and the date was confirmed for overnight stays I was itching to make a campsite booking.
We wanted to stay in the south west and finally use our VW T5 that had pretty much been parked up since autumn 2019 when we bought it.
Find out what you need to know when buying a camper van.
I found a site with availability in North Devon, made the booking and then got a phone call to say they were actually full. Noooo! So I began my search again and found Perran Sands.
It’s a Haven holiday park on the beach in Cornwall. Perfect! And luckily we bagged their last Euro pitch for the first full weekend after lockdown eased in England. Hurrah!
In case of any doubt, we booked and paid for our own stay here. I’m writing about it because we had a great time and I wanted to recommend it to you.
Read about more of the holiday parks in Cornwall we have tried and reviewed.
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About Haven Perran Sands Holiday Park
This large holiday park in Cornwall is close to the beach town of Perranporth on the North coast.
There’s lots of ways to stay including holiday homes, chalets, glamping accommodation and touring pitches. Many are pet-friendly. Perran Sands Beach is also dog-friendly all year round.
All the accommodation is spread out around a central hub that includes the indoor and outdoor swimming complex, entertainment venue, restaurants, bars and outdoor activity centre.
Perran Sands map
Here’s the Haven Perran Sands Holiday Park map:
Perran Sands – things to do nearby
Popular things to do near Perran Sands by include Newquay Zoo, Healey’s Cider Farm and Camel Creek Adventure Park.
These are all included in my guide to things to do around Newquay which is just up the road.
You might also like my guide to our favourite outdoor days out in Cornwall.
But the star of the show is direct access to Perran Sands beach.
Looking for more Haven holiday reviews? Read this one about Haven Church Farm Holiday Park in Sussex.
Camping and touring pitches
We booked the very last Euro pitch available for our dates. It was a good sized, level pitch with hedges and attractive flower beds at the end of each row. We had an electric hook up point and water point right next to our van.
Waste facilities and washing up sinks are located in the eco-friendly shower blocks which have green roofs, plus water and energy saving technology. There’s signs outside telling you all about it.
The blocks were kept superbly clean but ours visit was during the pandemic so this wasn’t a huge surprise.
The campsite also has grass and hard standing pitches with and without electric hook up. These are marked out in a large flat space between sand dunes.
There’s wooden bollards and roadways between rows but not between each pitch.
The campsite has its own adventure playground and there is a large dog-walking area with bins right beside it.
Haven rules are to keep noise down after 10pm and most pitches near us had quietened down despite it feeling like the sun had only just set.
Here’s more family-friendly touring caravan sites in Cornwall that you might want to check out.
Other accommodation
There must be more than 800 other mobile homes, chalets, beach houses and glamping tents across Haven Perran Sands Holiday Park. So accommodation suitable for all.
Some of the mobile homes had stunning views of the coast.
Perran Sands’ Mini Market
The small onsite supermarket is in the landscaped central hub surrounded by restaurants with outdoor seating and parasols. It has everything you’d need for your holiday at reasonable prices, so you could easily self cater without going to an off-site supermarket.
There’s also a gift shop selling ice creams, souvenirs, games and beach wear.
Restaurants at Haven Perran Sands
We didn’t get the try the restaurants or takeaways during our weekend but Perran Sands has several to choose from.
There’s the pizza, fish and chips and bar food.
What is there to do at Perran Sands?
Haven Perran Sands Holiday Park has a full programme of day time and evening entertainment, plus indoor and outdoor pools with flumes and a lazy river.
We missed out on these due to Covid restrictions at the time but still had lots to do as the play parks were open and we’d bought a few games like boules to play next to our camper van.
There’s also a cashless arcade, climbing wall and surf school.
Is there WiFi at Perran Sands?
Yes, Wi-Fi is available for free in the Haven entertainment venues, restaurants and bars.
Perran Sands Beach
The holiday park has direct access to Perran Sands and Penhale beaches just along from the main Perranporth Beach. But prepare your thighs for a work out to get to it!
You have to walk down a steep zig zagging path to reach the golden sand and surf. It is possible to get down this with a pushchair or mobility scooter but there is no promenade at the bottom – it goes straight onto the beach.
Life guards were on on duty from 10am when we visited, which was reassuring. However it’s still really important to keep an eye on kids in the sea. While we were at the beach a kid was rescued after drifting well outside the swim zone.
Bring body boards or surf boards for fun in the waves. Mr Tin Box tried using one of our paddle boards but the North Atlantic surf was too rough.
It is possible to walk along the beach from Perran Sands to Perranporth but check the tide times first.
Our Perran Sands Holiday Park Review
We loved our weekend stay at Perran Sands and felt there was just enough to do for a few days.
If we’d been staying longer we would have ventured off site to explore the local area and revisit some of our favourite days out in Cornwall. Perran Sands is in a great location.
Find out more about this Haven holiday park in Cornwall.
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