Below are some free ways to entertain the kids if you are on holiday in Newquay and keeping to a budget.

See the Seals at Newquay Harbour - at the time of day when the fishing boats start to return to the harbour, there are 1-3 seals that swim around in the harbour hoping to be thrown some spare fish. They appear friendly and when together they even roll around and playfully fight together. Beware though: they ARE wild animals, so don't let your kids into the water to try to stroke them. They are likely to turn on them. It's nice to find something free to do when trying to entertain kids on holiday

The boating lake is between the railway viaduct and the Gannel Estuary. There are small pedal boats or you can simply stroll around the gardens or sit on the benches and watch the new fountain or people in boats. There is an award winning tea garden to be found down there somewhere. Also there is a cafe. Watching is free so the only expense is if the kids want to hire a boat or have an ice cream. If you're planning on doing horse riding, you could combine the two by visiting the boating lake before or after your horse trekking.

Check out if there is a surfing contest going on on Fistral Beach.  You will need to watch out for posters on surf shop windows. There is generally a surf contest or festival on every few weeks. Some have skateboard displays and stalls too. The contests will always be on Fistral Beach at the Headland Hotel end, with any stalls being on the car park beside Fistral Surf Centre. Watching the contest or sitting on the beach - are all free obviously!

Head for Killacourt, just down from the Tourist Information Office and above Towan Beach. If anything is going on it will be here, from a band playing to an occasional French market, sometimes there is a big screen for major events.

From Killacourt you can look out to sea and watch the boats, or stand on the solar sundial and tell the time using the shadow of your body, you can find the solar sundial on the grass close to the cliff fence, between the two sets of steps down to the beach.

There is a putting green on Killacourt, alongside an ice cream kiosk.

Killacourt overlooks The Island, Newquay - you can see the suspension bridge going from the mainland to the Island, this is the only privately owned suspension bridge in the country. The Island is the home to Lord & Lady Long.

Quite a few of Newquay's beaches have caves.  Caves are good as they are usually surrounded by rock pools to explore, as well as the excitement of going into the caves themselves. But BE CAREFUL. 

Never go into a cave if the tide's on the way in, so make sure you have the Tide Timetable with you and have checked  it.  Having said that, there are some caves on Newquay beaches that are a long way from the sea and danger.

These caves aren't big, they mostly only go back about 40' or so.

One easy cave to access is on Great Western Beach, it's right under the road that goes down to the beach.

There's another you can access from  Whipsiderry Beach.

Be sure you understand the tides and tide times so you don't wander too far at the wrong time.