Porth Beach Tourist Park, Newquay, Cornwall

So, my husband and I love camping and surfing. This is why our annual holiday usually sees us heading down South and enduring the 8 hour drive to Newquay. Now, we are aged 27 and 34 but Newquay town centre isn't really our scene. If you haven't been, it's like being in Magaluf or similar - full of hen and stag parties with cheap bars everywhere.

We were trawling the web for a suitable campsite and stumbled across Porth Beach Touring Park. On arrival, we were delighted to see that we had discovered a little gem in the chaos of Newquay. So, Porth itself is a few miles out of the main town centre (thankfully), but it's only a couple of minutes drive away.

I have only ever camped here, so my experiences are purely based upon that. Our most recent stay was last week and we camped with a medium sized pitch (no electric) for 2 nights, which cost us £43.

The site itself is in a valley and surrounded by beautiful countryside. There is then a road with a lovely pub on it and you are then on the beach. Porth Beach is a lovely, large beach and there are plenty of rocks if you choose to explore the caves or fancy a bit of rockpooling.

Anyway, back to the site itself. The staff on arrival are really friendly and give you a sheet of paper showing how you should lay out your tent and park your car around your pitch. We have been visiting this site for 3 years now and have had pitches in various different areas - all of which are fantastic.

The toilet block is AMAZING for a campsite and the best I have ever come across. This is backed up by the fact that it has proudly won many 'Loo of the year' awards! In the ladies there are plenty of toilet cubicles, and a large, communal area full of sinks (there are also electrical sockets here incase you want to take your hairdryer or straighteners). There are several private cubicles which have sinks in, which are ideal for cleaning your teeth etc. There are around 10 showers, all of which are really powerful and spacious. There is an area where you can put your dry clothes and anything else as well as a hook on the door for your towel. Best of all, they are free - I have visited many campsites where you have to put 20p coins in to get the shower to run. All of these facilities are cleaned regularly and I'm sure they are one of the reasons that so many people return year on year.

Outside of the toilet block is a washing up area. There are 4 sinks (from memory), 2 are for washing up and 2 are for washing clothes. As I said, we have been for the last 3 years and have never had to queue to use the sinks. There is a launderette by the block as well, although I cannot comment on this as haven't used it. On walking past it though, it always looks very clean and there are ironing boards and irons available.

There is a child's play area available, but again, this isn't something I have used, so can't comment.

At the entrance/exit of the site there is a small shop which sells all essentials - milk, bread, drinks, etc. It's not TOO expensive and we usually end up paying a visit or 2 during our stay. The shop owner is incredibly friendly, which always helps!

The pub over the road - The Mermaid - is fab! If the weather is nice, then you can side outside at the back, which is practically on the beach. If not, then there is a bar area at the front for over 18s only, as well as a much larger bar/restaurant area. The pub accepts dogs. They have a juke box and a pool table and it always seems to have a nice atmosphere. The food is reasonable and really tasty - around £8-£10 for a main course. They have regular entertainment at the pub too, which can be anything from a pub quiz to a band. We have taken part in the quiz (which was free to enter) and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We tend to use the campsite as a base, and then make the daily pilgrimage to Watergate Bay (5 minutes drive). This is our preferred beach for surfing as it's a really large, beautiful bay and isn't quite as busy as Fistral and some of the others in Newquay. It's also only abour 10 miles from Padstow, which is a lovely fishing town and well worth a visit.

Overall, the campsite is ideal for us and we happily return year after year. It wasn't overly cheap for the 2 of us to camp this time, but we usually travel as a group of 5 and it normally costs us around £25 each for 6 nights, which is such good value. I would also argue that it's worth paying for the great facilities!

I would happily recommend this site to couples and families - they don't let single-sex groups stay, which keeps it fairly quiet.