Glamping At Atlantic Surf Pods
With travel restrictions easing after two birthdays in lockdown and our eighth anniversary just around the corner, we booked ourselves into a secluded little eco glamping site called Atlantic Surf Pods in Bude, North Cornwall.
What initially drew us to the pods was how unique they were, how they sat integrated within the undulating grassy lawns like little hobbit holes. We have always been fascinated by unusual places to stay, often favouring cabins, domes and tents over plush hotel rooms. There's something about feeling closer to nature there that soothes us but with a few home comforts.
Each pod comes with a large bed, linen bundle, towels, fridge, kettle, toaster, crockery box and even a couple of USB sockets (though we took power packs with us as we do on all our trips.)
Outside, there is a small decked area with bbq, a round table with parasol and a toilet cubicle to the rear.
We checked in late afternoon. Luckily, the first evening was only a little drizzly but it held off just enough to have some veggie burgers out on the decking.
The weather forecast for our stay was pretty terrible, so we took lots of books with us and downloaded a few of our favourite films onto the iPad just in case we got rained in. We were only there for a few nights and as restaurants hadn't opened back up at that point, we didn't want to get caught out.
The site is surrounded by wildlife (and some not so wild). If you're lucky one of the resident cats might come and say hello or even, as we discovered, the peacock. There are also ducks, sheep and llamas nearby.
After dinner, we went to check out the seaside town of Bude and Summerleaze Beach, just a few minutes drive away from our campsite. It was quite quiet at the time, due to it being out of tourist season.
We walked the SW Coastal Path North that evening, past the sea pool (closed for maintenance) and across the downs where we stopped to watch some surfers before getting chilly and heading back to our pod for the night.
The weather for the next two days was incredibly unpredictable. Sunny spells would switch suddenly into gusty downpours, forever keeping us on our toes with the constant shedding of outer layers only to put them back on a few minutes later.
After some hot porridge, we went back to park our car at Summerleaze Beach and head South, crossing the wharf, over the canal and up onto Efford Down where we came across the storm tower of Compass Point.
The last day of our trip was spent ducking into bookstores to avoid the rain, trying to find anywhere selling hot food on a Sunday and ultimately ending up with pasties and ice cream on the waterfront.
Quaint rowing boats and quirky pedalos were moored up at the water's edge, practically begging for us to jump aboard, and at a different time of year (when things were open again), we would have. So instead we walked a stretch of Bude Canal on foot before, once again, retreating to the little haven that was our surf pod.