As one who has been "lucky" enough to live in (what was, certainly until post COVID) a "Hidden Gem" for the past 35 years, I've modified my above post as we REALLY do not need any more publicity hereabouts.
I dread this advice ending up in some sort of "guide". There already plenty of people publicising "Hidden gems" online, all too often to exploit beautifully quiet unspoilt areas for personal gain.
A problem that friends in W Scotland, Scilly and the Lakes tell me is not unique to rural Cornwall.
We were lucky enough to have "free" parking, water access/slipways etc. That has had to change since the "users" overran us, and having parked for days (sometimes weeks at a time) in the limited parking available (often leaving camper vans and large 4x4s obstructing lanes and slipways. On return, they then use the "free" water supply to wash everything down before depositing their rubbish for us villagers to remove.
Carparks and slipways do not materialise out of thin air, and must be maintained. The two slipways here are maintained by local volunteers, not "The Council". We rarely see more than £100 out of the honesty box for a full seasons use by hundreds of users.
Rubbish disposal and water supplies must be paid for, by someone.
Now we have queues for water launching access, ANPR cameras for £££ parking, locked water taps. Constantly overflowing rubbish bins have been removed, A neighbour has had to start locking his wheelie bin closed as it's filled with others picnic/boat waste! Even Anchoring is chargeable, and you will be hunted down by the harbour patrol.
And then there is also the damaging effects large numbers of people, and water traffic has on wildlife. We've seen dolphins, porpoises, otters, seal and Ospreys in the river in recent years. Rarer now...
I'm sure members here, and on similar boating forums, don't behave I this way.
Cheap, indestructible Plastic kayaks were the start of our problems, £150 SUPs from Lidl perhaps the "final straw"?
Recent trends include playing loud music while boating, usually from overpowered RHIBS but these last seasons I've witnessed boom boxes on SUPs, in what were once quiet parts of the AONB...yes really!