Mexico Towans is separated from Harvey Towans to the west by a holiday park and from Upton Towans to the east by another holiday park. Upton Towans grades smoothly eastward into Gwithian Towans).

The dune system is wide with a patchwork of short coastal vegetation, maritime grassland, and dune vegetation. Mexico Towans has less open sand than Upton Towans and supports short maritime vegetation.

The sand is soft and medium-coarse grained with a high shell content.

The active face is continuous from the cliff to the west of Mexico Towans to Gwithian Towans in the east.

The beach is wide and gentle with a high active face at about a 45° angle.

There are a number of historical WW2 buildings within the sands at Upton Towans.These sand dunes form the western part of St Ives Bay, east of the Hayle Estuary and are contiguous with Gwithian Towans and Godrevy, on the north coast.