Location

Porthtowan is a small village in Cornwall and is a popular summer tourist destination which lies within the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, a World Heritage Site.  Porthtowan lies on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about 2km west of St Agnes, 4km north of Redruth, 10km west of Truro and 15km south-west of Newquay. Cornwall Airport is nearby and private jets, charter and helicopters are served by Perranporth Airfield.  Its name comes from the Cornish words 'porth' and 'tewynn' to mean Cove of Sand Dunes.

Porthtowan has a Blue Flag beach consisting of wide soft white sands and dunes and has more recently become well known as a surf resort and the surfclub building can be found directly on the Blue Flag beach.  This is where the judges can be found for the annual SAS Rip Curcl Cornish and Open Longboard Championship which is widely covered by the local radio station Atlantic FM.

Cornwall also houses The Eden Project, a visitor attraction which includes the worlds largest greenhouse.  Inside artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world.  The project is located in a reclaimed Kaolinite pit, located 2km from the town of St. Blazey and 5 kilometers from the larger town of St. Austell. a 44 minute drive from Porthtowan.