Gyllyngvase Beach
Falmouth's main town beach, a gentle curve of sand with gardens behind it and the coast path running along the top. As an award beach it carries the long restriction, closed to dogs from 10am to 6pm between mid-May and the end of September. Swanpool, ten minutes west, only closes in July and August.
Polruan Beach
The small beaches below Polruan village, across the water from Fowey and reached by the passenger ferry. This is the one place in Cornwall where both council orders bite: a July and August daytime ban, and a leads requirement that runs all the way from Easter Day to 1 October and covers the slipways, staircases and the promenade as well as the sand.
Portmellon Cove
A small sandy cove a steep half-mile south of Mevagissey, where the sea wall gets overtopped in winter storms. Dogs are excluded only between 1 July and 31 August, 10am to 6pm, leaving most of the year open. Parking is very limited, so walk in from Mevagissey.
Readymoney Cove
A pocket of sand at the mouth of the Fowey estuary, ten minutes' walk from the town along the water and below the little Tudor blockhouse. The ban here is the shorter one, 1 July to 31 August between 10am and 6pm, so June and September are unrestricted. The Hall Walk on the far bank is the better dog walk.
Swanpool Beach
Shingle and coarse sand below a nature-reserve lagoon on Falmouth's western edge, with a dog-friendly beach café on the sand. The shorter window applies here — 1 July to 31 August, 10am to 6pm — which makes it the better Falmouth choice in June and September. The coast path continues from here to Maenporth.
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