A surfing safari -- to England

Yes, England. In the winter, thousands of surfers flock to Cornwall to ride the waves. However, swells, breaks and boards aren't the only surprises the region offers the discerning traveler.

By Dominic Patten, Reporting from Cornwall, Britain
10:24 AM PDT, July 09, 2009

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I tell people I've surfed 7-foot waves in England, and they say, "You're lying."

What's funny is that some of the people I've told are surfers. Actually, most of them are far more experienced and committed surfers than I'll ever be. Men and women who drop phrases like "rhino chasers" and refer to Tofino, Bondi and Teahupoo as if they are exes they sometimes spend holidays with. That's the kind of people I'm talking about and still, the same clockwork reaction.

But I'm not lying.

Sitting amid the fashionably bundled up on the patio of the popular Blue Bar and looking out over the pristine dunes and cliffs of the village of Porthtowan in Cornwall, you have to remind yourself that you're in Britain. As you sip that latte to warm up from having just changed out of the head-to-toe wetsuit, you could almost convince yourself it's Northern California. Well, almost. The sun is shining, but it is still a little crisp and chilly.

This is surfing in the south of England in the winter. It attracts tens of thousands from all over the world, it employs thousands in one of England's poorest regions, and it serves as the backdrop to British Surfing Assn. events and, occasionally, to the odd bragging right.

"A recent study put the value of surfing to the Cornish economy at 40 million pounds [$65 million] a year," says Jim Mitchell, who started surfing almost 20 years ago as a teenager on Polzeath Beach.

Cambridge don Andy Martin takes a more circumspect approach to Cornwall's surfing economy.

"In recent days," observes Martin, an academic and the author of "Stealing the Wave," "the hype and myth have taken over from the real waves down Newquay way, driven by commercial imperatives."

Not that Martin doesn't see some fun in the froth.

"To be fair, you can still find some good spots on the right day, so long as you have a good wetsuit," he says.

On the northern coast of the southern most point in England, the swells, breaks and boards aren't the only surprises that Cornwall offers the discerning traveler.

"It is a magical place of wild, wind-swept British beaches that actually have sand and can be quite fabulously raw and intimate all at the same time," says expat Sian Edwards, a U.S.-based producer who spent many childhood holidays visiting family in the area.

Cornwall, best known to many as the backdrop for films such as "Straw Dogs," was once the home of Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence and Daphne du Maurier. It now counts author John le Carré and songstress Tori Amos among its permanent residents and half of London's A-listers as seasonal occupants.

One hundred and fifty years ago, Cornwall's mines and harbors were engines of the Industrial Revolution. In the last decade, the region has transformed itself into one of the leading culinary, cultural and environmental destinations in Europe . . . and not just because it has been featured in the Tomb Raider video game and " Harry Potter" books.

Surfing is far from the only attraction. Bundle up a bit and explore the area's estuaries and sheltered harbors. If you're taking a break from the board, the array of historical sites and little finds from just one afternoon in the car should impress even the most well-versed traveler.

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