Water Babes x Coastland Camping Trip 2025
At the end of September 2025, a group of twelve Water Babes exchanged Dorset for Cornwall and gathered for a long weekend of camping, laughter, and sisterhood. Many of us met for the first time, coming from different Water Babe activities such as the climbing or windsurfing groups, but by the end of the weekend we all left with so many lovely shared memories and new friends. We stayed at Coastland, a tucked-away, peaceful campsite and sailing centre on the edge of the Fal Estuary, near Mylor Churchtown and Falmouth, where the occasional seal would come to say hello and where the autumn sunrises and starry nights were just beautiful. It felt like a real hidden gem of a location, with views over the harbour across the estuary and complete tranquility.
On the Friday we all made the journey there by car or train, and pitched our tents up next to each other at the site, before having a BBQ together and getting to know each other. Amber kindly welcomed us and gave us each a Water Babes goodie bag with rash vests kindly gifted by Typhoon, watersports stickers and the loveliest idea: to ‘redeem 1x Polaroid to capture a special moment’ on her camera, which we could do at any point we chose during the weekend. For me, I chose a morning sunrise polaroid because I wanted to remember how peaceful that time of day was looking out towards the sea (with my very important morning coffee!).
The following day many of us tried something new - tow-foiling! Many hilarious videos and photos were taken during this experience. A few of us at a time piled into a small boat skippered by Tom of Coastland, with one of us balanced on a foil behind on the water holding the tow. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and felt like flying over the water whilst simultaneously being on a rollercoaster. It was brilliant, and I think we all swallowed quite a bit of seawater. I was super grateful for the hot shower afterwards because the water felt much colder here than in Bournemouth!
Later in the day, some of the Waterbabes were keen to visit Perranporth beach which is an absolutely gorgeous place, even on a rainy autumnal day. The waves were surprisingly big and while one brave Waterbabe surfed, the rest of us played football on the beach, shared snacks, took some photography and checked out the natural seawater pool. Other Waterbabes were keen to spend their afternoon watching the women’s rugby world cup final, go wing-foiling, or do some seal photography at the campsite. In the evening, it felt really nice to all join together again for dinner at a local harbourside restaurant called ‘Castaways’. The food was incredible (especially the seafood paella!) and the conversations we had were heartwarming and funny. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I laughed so much with a group of girls, which felt so healing and restorative.
On Sunday a few of us met spontaneously on the beach for another amazing sunrise, before we had an early morning yoga session together at SolSeek, a local waterside yoga and wellness studio, which was the perfect way to begin a Sunday. Afterwards, we took a short hike along the coast path to a small village called Flushing to catch the tiny ferry across the water to Falmouth for the afternoon. Many Cornish pasties were consumed, cute boutique shops, coffee shops and art galleries visited, before we caught the ferry back again and went to Kiln Sauna on the beachfront together, before hiking back to the campsite for another bbq and an evening of toasting marshmallows over the firepit under the stars. The next day, we’d go for brunch before sadly heading our separate ways home.
Thank you so much to Amber and Charly for organising this incredible weekend. It was one of the highlights of 2025 for me, and being part of Water Babes since moving down to Bournemouth last May has been so wonderful, meeting like-minded women and getting out on the water. My mental health has improved so much these past months and my confidence has grown so much on the water thanks to Water Babes, that I’ve actually booked my first windsurfing trip to Fuerteventura in 2026.
Thank you Amber for everything you do, you are incredible and super inspiring to all of us.