Kynance Cove

Serpentine rock streaks the sand in veins of red and green, turquoise water fills hidden caves at high tide, and the cliff path arrives from above with a reveal that stops conversation. Kynance Cove on the Lizard is a beach that earns its reputation on every visit.

The geology at Kynance is unique in England: the serpentine forming the headlands and sea stacks is oceanic crust forced above sea level, polished by the sea into dark green, blood red and cream against white shell sand. At low tide, caves open between the stacks and pools hold anemones and blennies — hidden beaches appear and vanish on the tide's schedule, so the tables are worth reading before you go. The National Trust cares for the cove, a wooden-hut café on the cliff sells crab sandwiches and tea, and the coast path runs two miles through wildflower meadows to Lizard Point, the southernmost tip of mainland Britain, where Cornish choughs have bred again since their return in 2001.