Leaving Cabo de Gata always seems like a difficult task for us. Having left our apartment in San Jose in early March, we decided that instead of dashing north immediately, we would first investigate some of the many beautiful wild camping spots around the park….and that’s what we did. 3 nights at Los Escullos, 4 nights in Las Negras, 5 nights in Agua Amarga…..before we knew it we’d spent the best part of an extra fortnight in Cabo de Gata!
Not that I’m complaining I hasten to add. There was a reason, after all, that we got as far as Cabo de Gata all those years ago, and ended up staying for 2 months over winter 2014-15. The same reason we have made a visit every winter since then as well. There is just something about the unspoiled beauty, pristine beaches, petite white-washed villages and idyllic coastline that is entrancing and enticing, especially compared to many of the high-rise resorts that are dotted along much of the rest of the southern coast of Spain.
That said, we did resolve to try a few new places as we journeyed north, which I’ll write about in the next post. Here I just want to say a few words about the three places we spent out time at in Cabo de Gata, along with the coordinates of where we stayed.
So, Los Escullos (36.805165, -2.064228), a quiet and remote beach alongside a tiny cluster of buildings, including a couple of restaurants. I’m not sure this is an ‘official’ parking, so there is always the risk of being moved on, but all of the three nights we spent here were in company. We enjoyed a very nice trail run along the clifftop path towards San Jose, and a lovely coast walk to La Isleta del Moro and back (which is only a few kilometres). We also had a great time running the dogs on the pebble beach and along the intricately weather rocks that make up the nearby coastline. The highlight for me, however, was the stars at night. With no natural light nearby, except the twinkling from La Isleta, this was a real, wild treasure. There is a motorhome aire in La Isleta as well, which we have stayed at before, which is equally perfect for watching the sun rise out of the sea (36.817590, -2.051285).
Las Negras, (36.879621, -2.006825) was naturally busier, with lots more campervans and motorhomes in the couple of dedicated parking areas. Shops and restaurants abound here, which is actually sort of why we went, to visit the lady who found Leela last year and who runs the Coyote Mexican restaurant (go, the food is great!) So yes, plenty more to do here and not so much our thing, but we found that by walking inland along the barranco that we were soon out of civilisation and among some amazing trails, not to mention the two coastal runs we did, one westwards towards Playa Playazo, and one eastwards towards the commune at San Pedro. Both very beautiful. And of course, when I say busy, I’m comparing it to Los Escullos. In global terms it’s asleep. Oh, and we also tried the spa in Hotel Spa Calagrande! Very lovely and not expensive considering we had the entire place to ourselves.
Finally we spent 5 nights in Agua Amarga (36.940838, -1.936493). We didn’t plan to stay so long, but we just happened to be here over the Easter weekend and kind of fell into the holiday spirit. Morning walks when the beach was quiet were very nice, especially as the weather was so kind, but the real highlight was several long walks we took westwards in the direction of San Pedro. There are some really fantastic beaches along the coast here named Cal de Enmedio and Cal del Plomo, both small and not busy when we were there, and nestled in among some fantastic scenery. All we had to do was pick up the trail out of town and in less than an hour we were in coastal heaven…..which is why is was so hard to leave.
Again, a few more pictures to tell the tale. So, although we spent much of our winter in San Jose in an apartment, after the fortnight we spent pottering around the other beaches, I can’t help feeling that we will stay in the camper next time we return to this area.
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