Woolacombe is a town set up for tourists, this means there are loads of places to eat and drink. I had a sinful skin full with my sister in law in Captain Jacks one evening and a bite to eat in the café opposite as a family the next day. There’s even little huts to rent right on the edge of the beach if you don’t want anyone to see your boobs when getting changed!

The beach is massive (like 2 miles long) so walks were a winner as a family and the kids all enjoyed playing in the sand dunes. The kids also went to the cinema in the Woolacombe Bay Hotel. Beyond that they spent a load of their hard earned pocket money on tat they bought from the tourist shops and in the amusement arcade.

Because the beach is so huge the surf was really open. I took my 9’2 longboard and didn’t find it difficult at all to get out back across the two weeks I stayed there (a couple of the days were massive).

I also nicked my brother in laws fish for a good few hours to ride the beach breaks, no barrels but a solid wave none the less when the tide changed. On the bigger days there was a bit of noticeable drag but only along the shallows.

Nothing special at Woolacombe which makes it a good choice for someone like me who is past looking to work to hard and just wants a chilled out surf for a few hours away from the kids. I have previously caught waves in Devon, Cornwall & Wales in places where there is one or two breaks and you have to work really hard to get in the crowded lineup, especially in the warmer months.

The only thing that I found really annoying was all the people. You can avoid surf schools but otherwise there was a mass who clearly bought a plank that day and thought they were Insta-Laird. The lifeguards were doing a good job of moving people around but on more than a handful of times rider-less boards would be flying towards me as I was paddling out where the grockle had just ditched, or got smashed.

The town itself, as lovely as it is could do with investment. Some of the streets and buildings need restoration or redevelopment. However the site we stayed at up the road at Mortehoe was very nice with loads of space and places to explore so we spent a lot of time there.