Praa Sands is a coastal village in the Parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 of Breage

Breage, Cornwall

Breage is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated three miles west of Helston....

, located off the main road between Helston

Helston

Helston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately 12 miles east of Penzance and nine miles southwest of Falmouth. Helston is the most southerly town in the UK and is around further south than...

 and Penzance

Penzance

Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...

 in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, UK. Formerly serving the local mining industry, it is now predominantly a tourist-oriented area.

Praa is the ancient Cornish word meaning "hag's" or "witch's cove".

The village is also the site of a "haunted

Ghost

In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...

" castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

, a small "keep" building that is in private hands; Pengersick Castle is also supposed to be one of the most haunted buildings in the UK, and holds regular ghost-hunting activities and other similar pursuits, such as holding events at Christmas and Halloween

Halloween

Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

. It was also investigated in series two of Most Haunted

Most Haunted

Most Haunted is a British paranormal documentary reality television series. The series was first shown on 25 May 2002 and ended on 21 July 2010. It was broadcast on Living and presented by Yvette Fielding. The programme was based on investigating purported paranormal activity...

with Yvette Fielding

Yvette Fielding

Yvette Fielding is a British broadcaster, producer and actress. She is best known for being the presenter of the TV shows Blue Peter, Most Haunted and Ghosthunting With....-Early life and career:...

 and Derek Acorah

Derek Acorah

Derek Acorah is a British medium. He is best known for his work on Most Haunted, broadcast on Living, between 2002 and 2005. He recently presented the series Derek Acorah on Sky Real Lives...

.

Geography

Situated in a sheltered depression within Mount's Bay

Mount's Bay

Mount's Bay is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head on the eastern side of the Land's End peninsula. Towards the middle of the bay is St Michael's Mount...

, it has a long, wide sandy beach facing South, lapped by comparatively large waves for the area. The beach, which has shallow waters and seasonal lifeguard

Lifeguard

A lifeguard supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, or beach. Lifeguards are strong swimmers and trained in first aid, certified in water rescue using a variety of aids and equipment depending on...

s, attracts surfers and holidaymakers. Adjacent to the beach is traditional retail

Retail

Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...

 outlets serving the holiday maker.

The western side of Praa Sands beach contains Folly Rocks Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

, noted for its geological aspects, including a granite porphyry.

To the west side of the village is another small beach, at Kenneggy

Kenneggy

Kenneggy comprises two separate hamlets, Higher Kenneggy to the west and Lower Kennegy to the east, in Cornwall, England, UK. They are situated in the west of the civil parish of Breage, east of the town of Penzance....

, which is accessible from the cliff path at low tide.