Last week we took our first post-lockdown holiday to Cornwall! We chose the area as it’s one we are familiar with and we know has some huge beaches – great for distancing! Read on to find out what we got up to and how COVID guidelines impacted our trip.
We booked a week at Haven’s Perran Sands holiday park, which is just outside Perranporth on Cornwall’s North coast. We already had our two cats booked into the cattery as we were planning on camping down in Cornwall. Fortunately lockdown in Wales lifted just in time for us to still get away. We chose to upgrade our accommodation to a caravan as we weren’t sure of the situation with restaurants and takeaways and wanted the option to prepare our own food, as well as have somewhere to go if the weather wasn’t great. For reference, we paid just over £1,000 for 7 nights in a Prestige grade caravan. The weather was fabulous for the majority of our stay so whilst it would have been lovely to have the option to sit outside, we couldn’t justify spending an extra £500 for a caravan with decking!
Since opening for the 2020 season, Haven are calling their breaks “Haven Hideways”, and have discounted their prices due to many activities, swimming pools and entertainment being unable to run. The check-in process has been altered (for the better – it would be great if it remained this simple!); after booking, you are offered a check-in time – if this isn’t suitable and you wish to arrive earlier or later, you can amend it online. The day before you are due to arrive, you are given the location of your caravan and a map so that you can familiarise yourself with the route from the entrance before arriving. When you arrive, if you have pre-registered your car, the number plate will be checked and you will be quickly off to find your caravan. The caravan itself will have a safety seal sticker over the door, once you break this, you will find the door already unlocked and the keys inside.
Then when you are ready to vacate the caravan at the end of your stay you are just asked to strip the linen from the beds and leaving the door unlocked, drop the keys off in a box outside reception.
One of the best things about Perran Sands is the location! It is a short walk down the dunes to a beautiful wide sandy beach. This is where we headed as soon as we’d unpacked! So happy to be by the coast again, we literally ran!
All of the takeaway food options in the park were available, so although we did bring most of our food with us, we did treat ourselves to fish & chips one night and Papa John’s pizza another. One of the dine-in restaurants was open too, which you had to book in advance, but we didn’t eat there. The Fun Works arcade was open, with the exception of the soft play. Both the indoor and outdoor swimming pools were closed – I’m not sure if Haven plans to open these later in the season, if rules are relaxed.
Sophie was so excited to see the playgrounds were all open! At the time of us going away, they were still closed in Wales. There are lots of picnic tables scattered around this central area so you can eat a takeaway whilst supervising your children playing.
Generally, we were super impressed with Haven’s efforts to comply with all safety and social distancing requirements. Guests are encouraged to order takeaway food online to collect or deliver, there are plenty of hand sanitizing stations around the park and limited numbers of people are allowed in the supermarket at any time.
Cornwall, for the most part, seemed more open than we were used to coming from Wales. Obviously beaches are as busy as usual (what helped was planning to arrive around 9-9:30am to be able to park at the busy beaches) and most public toilets are open. Most restaurants required us to sign in as part of the track and trace system even when sitting outside to eat. A lot of the attractions required advance bookings in order to restrict numbers and stagger arrival times. We only went to The Lost Gardens of Heligan, and had no issues booking online a couple of days beforehand.
I shall write up some separate posts shortly on our daily adventures in Cornwall!