Editing Newquay (section)

===Surfing===
[[File:BoardmastersFistralPre2010.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Fistral Beach showing the beach bar setup ready for the 2010 [[Boardmasters Festival]]]]
Newquay is widely regarded as the surf capital of the UK,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Local Area |url=http://www.newquaytowncouncilcornwall.co.uk/local/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301043648/http://www.newquaytowncouncilcornwall.co.uk/local/ |archive-date=1 March 2010 |access-date=16 August 2013 |publisher=Newquaytowncouncilcornwall.co.uk |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and is therefore also a centre for the surf industry in Britain.<ref>''The Surfing Tribe'' - a History of Surfing in Britain by Roger Mansfield (chapter 3) {{ISBN|0-9523646-5-4}}</ref> There are 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 [[Surf break|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. The annual [[Boardmasters Festival]] 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 {{convert|20|ft|m|0}}, the Cribbar was until recently rarely surfed as it requires no wind and huge swell to break. It was first surfed in September 1965 by Rodney Sumpter, Bob Head and Jack Lydgate and again in 1966, by Pete Russell, [[Ric Friar]] and Johnny McElroy and American Jack Lydgate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Surfing The Cribbar Newquay, Cornwall |url=http://www.rogermansfield.com/cribbar.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202201720/http://www.rogermansfield.com/cribbar.html |archive-date=2 December 2009 |access-date=1 July 2010}}</ref> The recent{{when|date=August 2018}} 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fistral Beach - North Cornish Coast, Cornwall Beaches |url=http://www.cornwall-beaches.co.uk/Fistral-beach.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121211124502/http://www.cornwall-beaches.co.uk/Fistral-beach.htm |archive-date=11 December 2012 |access-date=16 August 2013 |publisher=Cornwall-beaches.co.uk }}</ref>

Towan, Great Western and Tolcarne beaches nearer the town and nearby [[Crantock]] and [[Watergate Bay]] also provide high quality breaks.

In 2011, an artificial reef was proposed in Newquay to increase the swell and frequency of waves for surfers. However, it lost council support after local rowing clubs and fishermen protested against it.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Morris |first=Steven |date=2005-06-06 |title=Surf's not up for Newquay as reef plan flops |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/jun/06/localgovernment.travelnews |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> {{wide image|Newquay panorama from Tolcarne Beach.jpg|1280px|Newquay, harbour, Atlantic Hotel and headland from Tolcarne Beach}}