In San Jose: a walk on the beach

December 2, 2019

San Jose is one of the larger coastal villages in Cabo de Gata Natural Park. We’ll be staying here for three nights before moving on east to Agua Amarga, another coastal village in the park.

We’ve been anticipating our visit to Capo de Gata for the last several weeks - ever since Maria and Fito enthused about what an exceptional place it is when we ran across them on the cliffs of Lagos. We’ve been looking forward to sunny rides by the sea and into the desert, and maybe a last chance to see some flamingoes in the large lagoon west of here.

It is exceptional country alright, but we aren’t having the experience we’d been anticipating. Instead, we’re largely hiding out from the wind and rain. We’ve added a third night to our planned two night stay here, because biking tomorrow looks completely out of the question - hazardous even. A severe storm is in the forecast, with up to two inches of rain predicted for tomorrow along with 35-40 mph winds.

Ironic. Over breakfast in the cafe this morning, we watch the weather forecast on the telly. We’re next to Europe’s only desert, but we’re in the wettest part of Spain today.

Today though turned out much better than we expected. A break in the rains came through mid-morning, so we took our chances and went for a walk along the shoreline west of town. We didn’t really have a destination in mind, and were just walking as far as we could before the weather turned foul. By chance, we picked the right direction and found ourselves on Playa de Los Geneveses, one of the best regarded beaches in the park. We were really lucky and managed a three hour walk with only a brief spell of light showers - just enough to bring out a modest rainbow. We have the place nearly to ourselves, most of the time not seeing another soul in this pristine, gorgeous spot.

From the little we’re seeing here, this is clearly an exceptional area. This seems like a perfect time to be here too, as long as you’re not unlucky enough to be here during a typhoon. You could plan an entire short tour just in this area I think, mixing biking, walking and probably sea kayaking, taking the time to explore more than just the one beautiful beach we saw this morning and to wander through the small towns in the interior.

Just west of San Jose, we follow the shoreline until it disappears before the headland ahead.

After the beach disappears we climb up to a low road just above the beach, passing through a neighborhood of whitewashed cubist houses. The houses were fine enough, but somehow this bicolored cactus is the only photo I came back with.

This is a bit odd. No one is on the beach below, so it’s a bit of a mystery what’s happening here. Maybe it’s a work of art?

GBO knows what to do here though. He’s been looking for a chance to model what it would be like taking up a second career as a shoe horn.

As we round the headland we come to the end of the pavement and the last houses. The Rock of the Genoese, the promontory at the far end of Los Genoveses beach comes into view.

Staring down at Los Genoveses beach is a thrilling sight. We seem to be completely alone at first, but then I see a man in the trees taking photographs. We wave at each other from a distance and he then departs, leaving the beach to us.

The view back into the interior. Something about this fantastic landscape reminds me of Hawaii’s Big Island.

The splendidly colorful Rock of the Genoese.

From a distance it looks like these long rows are agave. Is it grown as a crop?

We encounter a brief shower as we climb over the neck of the Rock of the Genoese. A momentary break in the clouds causes me to look back.

A few others arrive later, but for nearly an hour the beach is ours alone. Walking the wet sand above the receding tide, ours are the only footprints other than those of a man and his dog that were here before us.

Looking back at the Rock of the Genoese from its western face. San Jose is out of sight in the distance, in a cove between two headlands.

A fantastic landscape. Everything is worth a second look.

We turned back here, on the neck of the next headland. We don’t trust the weather to hold much longer, and aren’t sure about the trail ahead either.

There is great diversity in the rock formations here.

The Rock of Genoese is worth more than one look.

Walking back to San Jose. It’s time to get out of here. You can’t tell from here, but it’s getting crowded in our private paradise. Another couple is slowly walking our way across the sand.

This country is worth more than one look, we think. I’ll have to make a note in the trip planner.

Returning to San Jose, just around the bend. It looks like we’re getting in back just in time.

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Jen RahnWow - another beautiful walk to add to the long list of The Stunning Landscapes of Vuelta a Iberia!
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4 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnIt really was a beautiful walk. It made me glad for the weather really, to get us off our saddles and ontO our feet.
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4 years ago