Information on Portloe

Like Port Isaac, Portloe must rate as one of Cornwall's most attractive coastal villages, largely because it has escaped the horrors of unwise development and remains truly unspoilt. Its situation is cramped and dramatic, squeezed in below the echoing, dark cliffs on the western flank of Veryan Bay, and it is hard to imagine when looking at the harbour entrance how any successful fishery could be run from here. Portloe did once support a small drift fleet and a seine fishery, however, whilst trading ketches landed and loaded goods on the beach; and some fishing still goes on today, and lobster and crab potting, to keep the place alive and real.

Sheltered between the slopes of a steep  South coast valley, surrounded by stunning coastal scenery, Portloe is a classic tiny Cornish fishing hamlet. The Lugger Hotel, with a countrywide reputation, is down the valley by the foreshore.

At low tide shallow water can be entered from the  small shingle beach and when the tide comes in on calm summer days the deeper water turns a rich inviting turquoise. It is a beautiful location for a refreshing swim but care must be taken as small fishing vessels still operate from the tiny port.

Mullet are often swimming around the harbour wall, but be careful the path onto it is very steep and dangerous. Alternatively follow the coastal path towards Nare Head for a few hundred yards and climb down the steep incline to fish for  mackerel off the rocks. Care must be taken it is not suitable for children and would be very dangerous in rough weather.

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