The Beaches of South Cornwall - S14 - Porthleven Sands

This map is part of the Ordnance Survey's Explorer series designed to replace the old Pathfinder map series. At 1:25,000 scale this detailed map shows a host of attractions including gardens which are open to the public, nature reserves and country parks as well as all official footpaths, bridleways, roads and lanes. Other facilities covered include: camping and caravan sites, picnic areas and viewpoints, selected places of interest, rights of way information for England and Wales, National Trail and Recreational Path routes, and selected tourist information. The series is aimed mainly at the experienced map user but can be used by tourists and locals alike.

Location: South Coast - 1 mile southwest of Helston

Porthleven Sands

Porthleven Sands lie to the southeast of the village, to the left of the harbour - incidentally built in 1811. The sand is quite coarse and is almost like very fine shingle in character. There is a good cliff walk southeast to Loe Bar passing the Tye Rock Hotel. The area is undergoing erosion like a lot of the south coast so please take care and stay on the well marked paths. Swimming is dangerous here and is banned at Loe Bar due to offshore currents. It looks possible to walk between the two beaches at low tide but this is not really advisable unless you know the area well and all the exit routes up from the beach.. From Loe Bar the shingle becomes more flinty in nature as it runs the three miles or so southeast to Gunwalloe. Once again it is inadvisable to take the beach route to Gunwalloe unless you truly know the state of the tide.

Loe Bar from the Anson Monument