Caerhays, or Porthluney, Beach is on the south coast situated between St Austell Bay and the Fal Estuary.

This south facing beach is gently sloping with fine-medium grained sand with a fairly even mix of quartz, lithic and shell fragments. There is a patch of cobbles at the top of the beach at the eastern side.

On the east side the Caerhays Stream is channelled against the cliff face. There are some signs of coastal erosion in the cliffs.

At the western edge a historic stone wall merges with the natural cliff with a WW2 emplacement behind. Eastwards from there the stone wall is replaced by wooden railway sleepers in front of the main car park.

Further east there is some sand dune. The active face is in a poor condition and the top is vegetated with scrub. Behind these dunes the east side is sandy with scrub and the west is a compacted sand surface car parking area.

Behind the beach and dunes is the historic park and grounds of Caerhays Castle.