Town in Bridgend, Wales
Porthcawl
Porthcawl began as a coal port, then became a seaside resort with a fairground named after Coney Island and a golf links that hosts world-class events.
Key information
- County
- Bridgend
- Nation
- Wales
- Known for
- Former Coney Beach fairground, Royal Porthcawl Golf Club, Elvis Festival, Rest Bay surf
- Football clubs
- Porthcawl Town
About Porthcawl
The seaside town that began as a coal dock
Today Porthcawl is deckchairs, chips and sea air. It was built to ship coal. The harbour opened in 1828, and the Dyffryn Llynvi and Porthcawl Railway opened the same year, linking the Llynfi valley with the port and bringing coal down to the waiting ships. For a while this small headland was a busy industrial outlet. Then bigger docks at Barry, Cardiff and Port Talbot took the trade, and Porthcawl's harbour faded. The railway that had carried coal began carrying day-trippers instead, and the town was rebuilt around its beaches.
Why a Welsh fairground was named after Coney Island
Coney Beach Pleasure Park stood above Sandy Bay and took its name from the famous amusement district in New York. It operated from 1920 until its permanent closure in October 2025. For generations of families from the South Wales valleys, a day out at Coney Beach was the highlight of the summer. Rollercoaster screams, candyfloss and the smell of the sea make up the classic Porthcawl memory. Nearby, the Grand Pavilion, which opened in 1932, is the town's historic seafront theatre. It closed in February 2024 for a major redevelopment.
A links course that the world's golfers know
Royal Porthcawl Golf Club was founded in 1891 and got its royal title in 1909. Its course runs right beside the Bristol Channel, so the sea is in view from almost every hole, and the wind often decides the scores. It has hosted the Walker Cup, in 1995, and the Senior Open Championship. For a town of this size, that is a serious place on the world golf map. Golfers talk about the course as a true links test, with firm turf, deep bunkers and a coastline that gives no shelter.
Elvis has not left the building (he never entered it)
Every September, hundreds of Elvis tribute artists take over Porthcawl for the Elvis Festival, which bills itself as one of the largest events of its kind in the world. Quiffs, white jumpsuits and sideburns fill the streets, and the seafront turns into a parade of Presleys of all ages and sizes. It is one of the quirkiest sights in Wales, and the town takes it entirely seriously. The festival has turned a quiet end-of-season weekend into one of the busiest in the calendar.
Beaches for every kind of day
Sandy Bay is the family beach beside the old fairground site. Trecco Bay, to the east, is home to one of Britain's biggest caravan parks, which shows how long Porthcawl has been a holiday favourite. Rest Bay, on the western side, is the surfers' beach, with strong Atlantic swell. It was named after the Rest, a Victorian convalescent home where recovering patients came for the sea air. Its sands still draw people to the water to recover from the working week. The Victorian lighthouse at the end of the harbour breakwater is the town's best-known landmark. Walking out along the sea wall on a stormy day is a Porthcawl tradition. A short drive inland, the dunes at Merthyr Mawr and the lonely Sker House, which inspired R.D. Blackmore's novel The Maid of Sker, give the area a wilder side.