A last minute dog friendly holiday in Cornwall: Haven Perran Sands, Perranporth review

Note: This Perran Sands review is entirely my own words and in no way connected to or sponsored by Haven.

It got to Sunday afternoon before the last full week of the holidays, and the kids were due back from their dads. It struck me that we had absolutely no plans for the week – aside from a little bit of working (me, not them, lazy scroungers). As a single parent with a dog to consider, going off on a last minute holiday is perhaps trickier than it might otherwise be, but Haven Perran Sands in Cornwall seemed to tick all the boxes.

Which is good because it was the only place still available. You say ‘wildly disorganised’, I say ‘gloriously spontaneous’.

I first booked a lodge at Sandy Meadows in Somerset, where we’d been twice before – but despite me specifically searching for dog-friendly accommodation the actual lodge they’d offered and I’d booked didn’t accept dogs. This is a pet (HA HA) hate of mine; if you have set strict search parameters, it’s stupid for the website to then offer things outside those.

It doesn’t matter what the website is; a different style of shoe might be acceptable but offering them in a completely different size is useless and stupid, and in this case no one is going to think ‘ah ok I’ll leave this child/dog at home after all’. Thankfully someone called me to check and I was able to cancel so we were back to square one. Bugger.

Holidaying in Haven Perran Sands with two kids and a dog: A review

ANYWAY there was basically nothing dog friendly left in the entirety of Somerset or Devon, but somewhere down in Cornwall had one little dog friendly chalet left, so I threw caution to the wind and decided it would be worth the four to five hour drive, and booked an exceptionally last minute 4 night stay at Haven Perran Sands – one of the lovelienst Beaches in Cornwall.

We stopped on the way in Exeter to break the journey up a bit and arrived at the park around five thirty. We checked in, and decided to stretch our legs and explore.

A few minutes from the chalet is the main complex with entertainment venues, pub and restaurants, and then a little further and down a hill – maybe a ten minute walk, is the beautiful beach.

In the opposite direction is a huge and very hilly nature reserve which is perfect for off-lead dog walking and exploring. Make sure you have good footwear though; it’s rough terrain and not suitable for less able walkers.

Accommodation at Perran Sands

We had a dog friendly 2 bed chalet at Haven Perran Sands. Our chalet was clean enough, and smelled mildly of damp in the way that every single holiday park chalet seems to, but fortunately you go noseblind to it quite quickly.

The chalet had an open plan living areas with a sofa and a comfy chair facing a television, a dining table and four chairs. In the kitchen, there was a fridge freezer, oven with hob, microwave and pots and pans, various cooking implements, cutlery, crockery etc.

Through into the sleeping area, there were two bedrooms (one double, one twin) and a bathroom with shower. All very standard; bigger than you get in a static caravan though. Beds were comfy enough, curtains kept the light out, can’t complain really.

Linen was included but towels were not; neither was there a little welcome pack of washing up liquid etc or a tea towel which I’ve had in previous places. There was no vacuum cleaner, just a broom, which made cleaning up dog hair anywhere but the main living room impossible, but we did our best.

It was basic, but absolutely fine for our needs. The only thing is didn’t have is any reception, which was a bit of an arse, but just meant I had to get up early to walk to the holiday village in order to log on. It was very nice and quiet though which I appreciated.

Facilities at Haven Perran Sands

Inside the main complex is access to the indoor swimming pool, the Live Lounge entertainment venue and the arcade. The arcade has 2p and 10p slots but everything else is done on a cash card which you have to top up. Note to the wise: Do NOT just give your kids your bank card and tell them to go and entertain themselves for a bit because you have important work to catch up on, or they may bankrupt you in the name of winning a small aubergine plush, even though they don’t really understand why aubergines are funny. FML.

There is an indoor swimming pool on site with slide and lazy river. You need to book swimming in the indoor pool which you can do via the app; we didn’t know this so we just kind of snuck in. I don’t recommend doing that, but needs must. The kids used the pool three times over the week while I was working on the side where there was a table and chairs for sweaty observers (and WiFi).

The outdoor pool is very simple; just a swimming pool, outside, with no changing area. However you don’t have to book it and if the weather is nice it’s not a bad place to spend some time. The kids spent an hour or so in there on the nicest day of the holiday.

In the middle of the holiday is a Nisa minimart, which stocks most things you’ll need for your stay in case you forget the basics like loo roll, washing up liquid or chocolate you can find them all here. It’s not as cheap as stocking up at Aldi beforehand or bringing things from home, but it’s much less effort than driving to a supermarket particularly when you send the kids in on your behalf.

The Coast bar, which opens at 10am, is a good place to go should you want WiFi, coffee, or beer. They don’t serve food other than crisps but you are welcome to bring your own food in from other venues such as the fish and chip shop, or the chicken takeaway.

There are also a few children’s play areas dotted about, a reception in case you need anything, and various paid activities that we didn’t inspect because we really weren’t there long enough to need them.

Entertainment at Haven Perran Sands

The Live Lounge is where the evening entertainment takes place.

There is probably some godawful, harrowing kids’ entertainment including mascots singing and dancing, but thankfully, we are past that stage in our lives now.

Instead we headed there each evening around 7ish, and just caught the tail end of the kids’ entertainment before the main event; a few comedian/musicians and bingo, mainly.

It was OK. The kids enjoyed themselves and that’s the main thing. I was happy to be left alone, doom scrolling and messing around on Twitter or whatever it is I do in my spare time.

The drinks were about as expensive as you’d expect (£6.50 for a pint of Cornish Rattler cider, £9.75 for a large Sauvignon Blanc, although there was a two for £12 deal on cocktails…) but you could order to the table – which is a great benefit to single parents who don’t particularly want to leave their kids while they stand at a bar.

I didn’t stay late into the night because I value my sanity but I’m sure it’s all standard fare; talented people whose dreams of stardom were given up on many many years ago, singing and dancing for a large group of drunk, uninterested holiday makers and some annoying sugared up children.

Food and drink at Haven Perran Sands

Although the accommodation is self catering, there are options should you want to eat out.

Surf Bay Restaurant is the main restaurant, where you can get breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as cocktails. You can order to the table via the app or have waiter service, and dogs are welcome outside. They have offers including two selected adult meals for £18 and £1 children’s meals which makes it very reasonable to eat there.

The fish and chip shop was a favourite, and you could take the food into the pub or the Live Lounge entertainment venue.

Slim Chickens has a KFC food court vibe, and the macaroni cheese went down very well. There’s also a Papa John’s pizza delivery/takeaway shop.

You can order most things via the Haven App, it’s pretty nifty – and you can even get takeaway to your accommodation (if you can get reception)

Perran Sands review: The beaches

The beach is accessed down a large slope and stairs, so not very buggy or wheelchair friendly at all, unfortunately. It’s absolutely beautiful and sandy; and there’s a little shop with ice creams etc (although as far as I’m aware, if you need a wee you’ll have to climb back up the hill to your accommodation; the walk is a lot less easy in reverse!).

The best thing about Perran Sands beach is that it is dog friendly. Izzy had never seen the sea before – as far as we’re aware – and she went absolutely LOOPY. She did not appear to understand the concept of salt water, which gave her something of an internal clear out in the middle of the pavement at the holiday village on the last day. The less said about that the better.

Perranporth

The beach of Perranporth (where dogs need to go on leads but you can still take them on the beach) is about 1 mile or 20 minutes walk away, and you can go over the hills or via the beach if it’s low tide. If you take the beach route then you can explore a bunch of caves which both the kids and the dogs thought was ultra exciting!

Perranporth is a lovely tourist destination, and the little town has a number of pubs and restaurants as well as souvenir shops etc. Worthy of a menton is the Watering Hole, which claims to be the UK’s ‘Only Beach Bar’ (I’m sure I’ve been to one in Brighton but never mind). Whether it is or not, you can sit overlooking the sea with your feet in the sand sipping a pint of Cornish cider, maybe even a bite to eat, and if someone emails you something urgent there’s even WiFi.

Newquay

Newquay is a very short drive away too, and there are various car parks which are slightly outside of the main town if you want to do a day trip. To be honest, the beach at Perranporth is just as lovely – if not nicer – and obviously walkable; but we needed to vacate the chalet by 10am and although you are welcome to park up and use the facilities til 4, as I’d promised the kids some Fat Willy’s merch and an ice cream, so we went on our way home.

It’s obviously great if you want to go surfing and worth a visit just to say you’ve been.

Cost of a holiday to Haven Perran Sands

Our VERY last minute 4 night holiday cost £649 including a Play Pass which gave access to the pools and entertainment.

I have no idea how much a holiday there would be if you pre-booked it in advance but I imagine you can do so on their website here where you can also find out more information about what’s on offer.

We had a lovely holiday. Despite being a single parent, having a dog to consider and needing to work too, it was (honestly!) one of the most relaxing holidays I’ve had with the kids, and hopefully they’ve come away with some lovely memories of Perran Sands too.

I’d definitely consider going back in the future.