Surfing
The resort is widely regarded as the surf capital of the UK. Newquay is a centre for the surf industry in Britain, with many surf stores, board manufacturers and hire shops in the town.
At the centre of Newquay's surfing status is Fistral Beach which has a reputation as one of the best beach breaks in Cornwall. Fistral is capable of producing powerful, hollow waves and holding a good sized swell.
Fistral Beach has been host to international surfing competitions for around 20 years now, most recently the Rip Curl Boardmasters Tournament which now has a new sponsor and is called the Relentless Boardmasters Festival. After three years at the Boardmasters Tournament, Relentless took the title sponsorship in 2009 and again in 2010. The tournament takes place at Fistral beach, with a music festival taking place at Watergate Bay.
Newquay is also home to the reef known as the Cribbar. With waves breaking at up to 20 feet (6 m), the Cribbar was until recently rarely surfed as it requires no wind and huge swell to break. It was first surfed in 1967 by Jack Lydgate, Bob Head and Rod Sumpter. The recent explosion in interest in surfing large waves has seen it surfed more frequently by South African born Chris Bertish, who during a succession of huge clean swells in 2004 surfed the biggest wave ever seen there.
Towan, Great Western and Tolcarne beaches nearer the town and nearby Crantock and Watergate Bay also provide high quality breaks. Towan Beach is the location for the proposed Newquay Surfing Reef, a controversial project which has caused a fierce local debate
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