Friday 1st & Saturday 2nd June 2018
Barreiros, our current base, is in the region of A Mariña Oriental on the northern Galician coast and along its 8 kms of coastline are several beautiful and often deserted beaches, as well as the very popular Praia das Catedrais.
Across the small road from our campsite we were able to access a great pathway, the camino Natural de la Ruta Del Cantábrico. It was an excellent way to walk or cycle along the coast in safety.
It wound its way around small hamlets and around individual houses, most of which enjoyed fantastic sea views, as well as passing a few bars and restaurants on the way.
Our main purpose for using it was to make our way to Praia das Catedrais/Cathedrals Beach, or to give it its official name, Augas Santas, Beach of the holy waters. As we got closer to this particular area the wooden walkway moved away from the coastline, but several spurs led out to the cliff edge where it was possible to enjoy the views. The round trip was approximately 10+ kms.
Over the years the natural beauty of this beach has become an incredibly popular tourist attraction and if you wish to visit during 1st July and 30th September you must pre-book on line, a date and time to visit, such is its popularity. Booking website here.
This is to limit the numbers of people visiting to less than 5,000 per day!!!!! So probably some good planning will be required to ensure that your visit will be a memorable one, for the right reasons 😉
Luckily for us, the day we visited was perfect. The tide times were only favourable once a day for us, as the second low tide was just after midnight and the only way to access the beach and admire the natural arches and caves is during low tide.
Once you descend the steps to the beach you soon become an insignificant part of the landscape, as you are greeted by huge towering cliffs!
As well as this spectacular beach, it is possible to walk along many of the other beaches, which become connected during low tide and just enjoy being at one with nature.
Praia de Lóngara, Praia de A Pasada, Playa de Fontela and Praia de Coto.
We returned on Saturday to Cathedral Beach, but this time as the tide was coming in. By now the site was much quieter with very few people about, but we were not disappointed, as watching the huge waves rolling in and crashing against the rocks and cliff faces made excellent viewing.
