Praia das Catedrais: The Beach That Only Exists at Low Tide
Galicia, Spain
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As Catedrais
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250
XP
+100 Spain
= 350 total
1 day
Praia das Catedrais: The Beach That Only Exists at Low Tide
250 + 100 XP
Its real name is the beach of Augas Santas, ten kilometres west of Ribadeo on the Cantabrian coast, but nobody calls it that. At high tide it is a cliff. At low tide the sea pulls back off a long sweep of sand walled by slate and schist eroded into arches over thirty metres high that look exactly like the flying buttresses of a cathedral, with caves and sand corridors running back between the rock. On spring tides you can walk along the sand to the neighbouring beaches — and the coast here is nearly horizontal, so the water comes back fast.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Check the tide table before you do anything else, and time your visit for low water
2
of 5
Walk under the arches — over thirty metres of eroded slate and schist, which is where the name came from
3
of 5
Go into the caves and sand passages that are only open at the bottom of the tide
4
of 5
Come back at high tide and walk the clifftop path east towards Esteiro to see the same place as an unbroken cliff
5
of 5
Work out why the tide is the whole point here: this stretch of the Rasa Cantábrica is almost flat, so the sea comes back across it quickly
Check the tide table before you do anything else, and time your visit for low water
Walk under the arches — over thirty metres of eroded slate and schist, which is where the name came from
Go into the caves and sand passages that are only open at the bottom of the tide
Come back at high tide and walk the clifftop path east towards Esteiro to see the same place as an unbroken cliff
Work out why the tide is the whole point here: this stretch of the Rasa Cantábrica is almost flat, so the sea comes back across it quickly
Before you go
Since 2015 access in summer has been restricted, with passes applied for online in advance and numbers capped. The tide returns fast across flat sand — get out well before it turns.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
Spain country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in Spain.
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