Thursday 23rd November 2017
Despite several attempts to locate a sandy beach close by on Google, I had failed. Even my search ‘sandy beach’ turned out to be ‘stony beach’!!
I wasn’t going to be defeated. One more last attempt to locate a beach before my sister headed back home.
Success! I had finally located 3 beaches close to Castellón de la Plana and Benicàssim.
There are 3 beaches that cover around 4 km of the Mediterranean coast; Pinar Beach, Gurugú Beach and Serradal Beach.
Our 30 km ride, which took longer than it should have done due to a road closure but we arrived at Pinar beach first, which starts at the northern limit of the port of Castellón, (not the most picturesque sight).
We were quite excited as there was ample parking, walkways and miles and miles of sand. We also spied a large car park full with motorhomes.
There were no high rise apartment blocks lining the coast, just a pleasant boardwalk, with plenty of trees, as well as a planetarium, with its white dome, just metres from the sand. We had also noticed a small golf course and hotel, just a little way from the beach too.
Having seen how long the beach was, we decided to get back in the car and make our way further down and parked up close to the boardwalk at Le Playa de Gurugú.
The depth of the beach was astounding. It was very clean and we walked down to the shore and headed north, up to mouth of the Rio Seco.
Behind the beach was another motorhome park with access to the beach across the road and an airfield, apparently the home of the Flying Club of Castellón.
The Serradal Beach began on the other side of the river and continued towards Benicàssim. At this starting point was an area dedicated to the protection of the dunes and where vegetation has been developed for the nesting of the Kentish Plover. (We had noticed something similar at Cunit Beach near the port area in Barcelona).
At this point we left Castellón de la Plana and turned for home to enjoy the final warmth of the sun and our last night with my sister before her flight home.