Porthcawl is a town and community in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales. It is on the south coast of Wales, 25 miles west of Cardiff and …Porthcawl is a town and community in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales. It is on the south coast of Wales, 25 miles west of Cardiff and 19 miles southeast of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the South Wales coast, overlooking the Bristol Channel, Porthcawl developed as a coal port during the 19th century, but its trade was soon taken over by more rapidly developing ports such as Barry. Northwest of the town, in the dunes known as Kenfig Burrows, are hidden the last remnants of the town and Kenfig Castle, which were overwhelmed by sand about 1400.