A Beach of a Ride to Matalascañas

October 11, 2022

Sanlucar to Matalascañas

We have had a wonderful, wonderful day. We actually set an alarm, and woke up early by our standards. The alarm went off at 7:30 AM. My goal was to relax and enjoy breakfast, but be ready to go shortly after 9 AM. Keith’s goal was to gulp down breakfast and be on the beach by nine at the latest. We stayed last night at the Hotel Macia Doñana which we think is the same hotel Ursula and Andreas, the cyclists we met just outside of Cadiz stayed in as well. They suggested today’s route and we went for it. The hotel was close to the beach and the ferry to Doñana National Park. The hotel also had a fabulous breakfast. Several cappuccino later we were on our way.

I had a very excited CN on my hands, and there was no dawdling this morning. Tide tables had been checked and he was absolutely focused. The plan was to take the short ferry to Doñana National Park and ride the beach for 29 kilometres to Matalascañas. We had a backup plan, just in case we got in too deep in the sand, as it were, but had done a fair amount of research. The ride has to be done on a falling tide, recommended four hours after the peak.

We are ready. The ferry is headed our way.

Skis going on, motorbikes coming off. Just kidding about the skis. Fishing rods!

Those fishing rods again. We got a kick out of how much they looked like skis.

We arrived at the ferry in good time. For anyone else considering doing this, it goes back and forth all day. We watched it yesterday. It doesn’t stay on one side for any length of time. There is no real schedule. We watched it go over turn around and come back, repeat, yesterday at lunch. Remember that excited CN? Okay, I was pretty excited too. We got on the ferry and nothing happened. There were about 30 of us on the boat and it didn’t move. We were not feeling patient, either of us. That is when we noticed the woman looking in the other direction, intermittently on her phone. Tour guide. Sure enough, after about 10 minutes of valuable receding tide time, a couple turns up in a cab, late, and joins their tour group on the ferry. They didn’t even have the good grace to look embarrassed.

Almost there. It is a very short trip. That green vehicle is for the tour group. The idiot in the power boat ran right in front of the ferry as we were approaching the beach.

Once on the other side the first few pedal strokes had me concerned we had bitten off more than we could do, but after determining the sand was firmer closer to the water we were off. It was just absolutely amazing. Smooth, fast, beautiful, quiet (if you don’t count the amazing sound of the waves on the shore) and warm. I don’t know how to describe it properly. It felt like such an absolute privilege to do something like this. We just marvelled at the whole experience. It was so solitary too. There were fisherman, some on ebikes, but they were mostly close to either end of the beach. In the middle it was just us and the big beauty. The tour group passed us in a big beach vehicle, going and coming quite early on. The police went by at one point. I had a silly grin on my face the whole time.

So amazing to do. The first time I have ever seen Keith ride without a helmet. So I took mine off too. We went full European.

I love the shadow effect. I would fall off my bike if I tried to do this.

Keith took so many photos today I got way ahead of him.

So I took a picture of this beautiful shell. Shoe is for scale.

Right in the middle of the ride two touring bikes appeared, heading in the opposite direction. They are a Spanish/British couple and live in Malaga. They were able to give us all sorts of good information. They did an out and back over two days.

So much fun, and English speaking, so we could really ask questions.

We didn’t see flamingos. Darn. The online information said we would. These will have to do.

Well, actually, the silly grin lasted until the last five kilometres. Now this is interesting. Leaving from Matalascañas, Ursula and Andreas had to do some hike a bike for the first four or five kilometres. We had read a blog by another young guy who started there and he said the same. They both felt they had perhaps mistimed the tide a bit. The Spanish/British couple on touring bikes going the other way said four kilometres or so from Matalascañas the quality of the sand changes and some pushing might be necessary. So my theory is that it probably has more to do with the sand than the tide. Pushing certainly was on the agenda. It was one time being the smaller and lighter of the two of us was a huge advantage. I was able to ride probably 50% of the way but my big guy barely managed a kilometre. Just too much weight on the bike. His bags are heavier than mine too, so his tires just sank in the sand. We are so grateful that came at the end of the ride, not the start or we might have bailed. The ride was an amazing experience, so if you start in Matalascañas don’t be discouraged.

Once we arrived there was a road of sorts. The CN walked up to investigate whether we could get into town that way.

This was hard work. I really was the lucky one.

I was pushing here. Even the pushing was easier for me because of the lighter bags.

A better way into town. We used our water bottles to rinse the bikes (we kept filling them at a beachside station for rinsing feet) but we really need a hose.

This pedestrian walkway runs the length of town.

We stopped in the shade and ate our picnic lunch. We had three possibilities for stopping today, one being right where we were. When Keith told me he didn’t want to go further I thought he was teasing me at first, but he really meant it. That doesn’t happen often so I paid attention. After pushing his heavy bike through the sand he was tuckered out. His glasses were steaming up. So here were are in Matalascañas, a resort town, in a gorgeous hotel and life is pretty darn good.

There are ten or so bikes like this one out front for guests.

Hopefully Huelva tomorrow. The couple on the beach warned us about the bridge, and although we already knew, it was so kind of them. We come in from the other direction, so that is easy, and then we may get a cab to get us to the other side when we leave so we don’t have to retrace our track from a few weeks ago. A big cab!

I feel so grateful for so many things today. Our serendipitous meeting with Ursula and Andreas. Otherwise we wouldn’t have realized this was even a possibility. I am grateful we both can be spontaneous. I am grateful this saved us riding back to Seville, even though we loved the city. I am grateful to Keith for figuring it all out. I am grateful for an amazing experience. Probably a good thing we didn’t see flamingos. I might have fallen off my bike from the sheer joy.

While I worked on the blog poolside, Keith had a good snooze. We have been for a good walk and had a beer at the beach as the sun went down. What a great day.

That little spike at the end was a short steep climb to our hotel but the rest of the ride was obviously at sea level.

Today's ride: 33 km (20 miles)
Total: 1,313 km (815 miles)

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Scott AndersonExtraordinary, and nice to know. I’ve looked at this before too but believed it was not permitted to bike in Donana. On the beach is apparently different. We’ll remember this. Are you going to El Rocio?
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2 years ago

Keith ClassenTo Scott AndersonUnfortunately not going to El Rocio. We are in Huelva heading in the direction of Lisbon for our flight home in a couple weeks. The beach ride was fun to do.
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2 years ago

Susan CarpenterAn amazing and wonderful adventure. I also have looked into taking this route but have been a bit hesitant. I love your "go for it" attitude - such a unique experience. Thanks for sharing.
I'm wondering if there is any beach access to a road to the north to El Rocio once you get off the ferry. Or if you noticed an access to the Parador de Mazagón from the beach. Thanks
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2 years ago

Rachael AndersonWhat an amazing experience!
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2 years ago

Keith ClassenTo Rachael AndersonWe were very lucky bumping into the Swiss couple who had just done it. We were actually heading to Seville but were intrigued by the possibility of doing the beach ride. It wouldn’t have crossed our minds.
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2 years ago

Keith ClassenTo Susan CarpenterHi Susan - I didn’t notice any access points to or from the beach until we got to Matalascanas so I really can’t tell you. You should be able to get answers to your questions by contacting the park. Sorry not of much help to you.
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2 years ago

Jacquie GaudetAl wants to know how sandy your drivetrains got...
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2 years ago

Keith ClassenTo Jacquie GaudetActually sand in the drivetrains wasn’t an issue really. At the end of the ride we found a small fountain filled our water bottles then gave the chain and chain ring a quick rinse. We weren’t far from our hotel but the next morning I gave the bikes a thorough rinsing from a hose at the hotel.
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2 years ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Keith ClassenGood to know. I think there's a beach section on our planned Sicily route, but it's very short.
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2 years ago