South West Coast Path - Rinsey to Porthleven

Rinsey to Porthleven (and back again)

Notes from the South West Coast Path; in this blog series we document the short stretches we've done with the aim of helping others to enjoy it piece by piece. If there is any useful information that we’ve missed out, let us know in the comments!

Distance and details

8 miles / 13 km total

Starting and finishing – Rinsey National Trust car park, TR13 9TS (what3words weedy.initiated.giving)

Halfway point – Porthleven

Ease of walking

I would describe this as a moderate walk, there was only one steep valley to walk down into and back up the other side via some steep sloping paths. The rest of the route was made up of fairly gentle slopes and the paths themselves not too taxing. We walked it in mid August after nearly 2 months of drought and so the paths were very dry, dusty and stony. Some of the paths are across clifftops with heathland vegetation bordering and as you get closer to Porthleven this turns to fields for grazing.

There are beautiful views from the cliffs with the engine houses of Wheal Prosper and Wheal Trewavas making fantastic subjects for photography.

Wildlife

Our highlights of this walk were two choughs in the fields and a peregrine falcon sitting on the cliff. We watched the falcon for some time as they're not something we see every day!  During the walk there were plenty of different butterflies too and plenty of seabirds such as cormorants and gulls.

Refreshments

There are no facilities at Rinsey so it's worth packing snacks or a full-blown picnic. When we walked this in August we started mid-afternoon and walked to Porthleven for dinner, walking back while the sun set. There are a large number of pubs, pasty shops, restaurants and street food vendors in Porthleven (at least in the summer), you'll be spoiled for choice. Not forgetting all the opportunities for ice cream! 

Toilets

There are no toilets at Rinsey so you'll have to risk a wild wee until you get to Porthleven where there are public toilets on the harbour near the clock tower. 

Parking

The National Trust car park at Rinsey is quite small with roughly 30 spaces for cars, the lanes down to it are narrow so there aren't opportunities to park on the road without blocking passing places. We'd recommend arriving early in the day if you're visiting during the summer holidays, or time it for late afternoon for when everyone is leaving the beach. There is no ticket machine so the car park is free!

Time to spare?

Take a dip in the sea pool (known as Ray Pool) at Rinsey. It only becomes a defined pool at mid to low tides so we recommend checking the tides if you're making the sea-pool a priority. You can either swim around from the beach at Rinsey or scramble down the cliff path if you take care. If you're on the coast path you'll see it after a few minutes walking in the direction of Porthleven.

If there's a big swell and favourable winds, you may see people surfing the reef at Porthleven. This is always an amazing scene to take in. It's not a spot for beginners, so unless you know what you're doing, leave it to the experts and enjoy the spectacle from the coast path.

The other great spectator sport (or perhaps you want to join in!) is enjoying all the people jumping into the harbour at Porthleven. When we visited, the harbour was buzzing with jumpers, swimmers and stand up paddle boarders. It was a lovely evening watching the crowds before heading back to Rinsey.