[5] The Society of Friends, noted the challenges faced in fishing due to severe weather and the lack of secure landing ports in the Portacloy area.

Efforts in the 1880s aimed at securing a pier for Portacloy, met with resistance, citing limited resources for construction and an exposed setting.

[5] The Congested Districts Board constructed a boat slip, breakwater, landing place, and approach road at Portacloy.

Charles Browne in an ethnographic study in 1893 described the terrain as rugged, primarily composed of marshland and mountain, with the weather remaining temperate with rare and short-lived frost or snow, yet with heavy rains persisting almost constantly for most of the year, accompanied by frequent and intense storms.

[7] Portacloy Bay was a Green Coast Award Beach for 2017 and is the starting and finishing point for an 18 km long loop walk.