New chapter of the Costa Brava series ready!
As a local I had my own set of prejudices against Platja d’Aro, a coastal town with lots of of apartment buildings near the seaside and luxury botiques. It is known to be a very touristy town, so I am happy to contribute to show that this area has a very beatiful wild coast just when you walk a little away from the buzz.
The beaches and places you will see in this post are reachable from Platja d’Aro main beach, but we decided to start in the more remote (& gorgeous) Can Cristus beach. Can Cristus has a small (free) parking of around 20 vehicles tops, so if you are going there in full season (July, August) it will be maybe easier to find (paid) parking in Platja d’Aro instead.
Put your swimsuit and straw hat!
Can Cristus & Cala del forn
I fell so in love with Can Cristus and Cala del forn! I think it is one of my favorite spots in the whole Costa Brava, it was very easy to park and the beach was absolutely stunning. The beach is located in a very natural area (there’s only a camping right next to it) and we were lucky that since it was June, there were very few people and the water was completely amazing with lots of fish swimming.
Can Cristus is separated from Cala del forn by just a little tunnel in the rock, which is super fun to use to go from one beach to the other. If you are visiting this year, please use your mask while crossing the tunnel, y’know why, covid doesn’t discriminate if you are in a beautiful place or not *wink*. Cala del forn is a little bit different, it’s way tinier and has a rock formation in the sea, you will find more wildlife near the rock, so make sure to use your snorkel glasses!
Pictures in this post have not been modified whatsoever, that is how clear the water was that day and with all the different shades of blue!
Cala de la roca del paller
From Cala del forn you can take the stairs towards the coastal path, first, we are going north, let’s meet at Cala de la roca del paller!
It’s quite easy to get to this beach using the coastal path (Camí de Ronda). In the middle you will stumble upon another little cove called Cala dels esculls, but it’s very rocky, has more seaweed and it’s not that nice for a bath. Cala de la roca del paller has a very funny shaped rock that looks like an ape or a monkey and its contour (the arms of the ape) allows for creating a natural swimming pool, with impecable water and lots of wildlife too.
After a very nice bath, and swimming to and from the little natural swimming pool down the monkey head, we kept walking towards Cala de les Roques Planes.
Camí de ronda (coastal path) to Cala les Roques Planes
Most guides and blog posts tell that Cala de les Roques Planes is the best place to take a bath in the middle (or end) of your walk.
I can’t agree with them though, I find this place more beautiful to walk along the tongues of rocks than to swim. It’s an amazing spot for awing at the nature formations and to have some pictures, but I recommend bathing in the previous beaches (specially at Cala de la Roca del Paller) instead.
On top of my swimming suit I put again the dress and went for a walk around the flat brown rocks. Afterwards we kept walking up the coastal path until we saw Torre Colomina, that was our target for the hike. We retraced our steps towards Can Cristus again and call it for the day.
I strongly recommend this hike because you have different sights along the way. Other coastal paths can be more monotonous until you get to the final destination.
Cala Cap Roig & Belladona beach
For the second day, we started again at Can Cristus but this time we walked the coastal path towards south to find new beautiful beaches. For the hikes take into account that you will find steep stairs, be careful and bring water. Also don’t worry, it’s super easy to do! I would recommend wearing shoes for rocky beaches because they are perfect for the hike and you can’t enter directly into all the type of beaches feeling safe.
There are two amazing spots in this direction, Cala Cap Roig and Platja de Belladona which are one next to the other. I absolutely recommend them, they are very lovely and have pine trees all over the coast. There’s a xiringuito (beach bar) in case you fancy a cold drink or some tapas.
Again, after we reached the south side of Belladona we retraced our steps and ended the day swimming at Can Cristus. However, the coastal path (camí de ronda) between Belladona and Platja d’Aro main beach is known to be very lovely as it goes with a walkway with arches (more busy than the rest of the hike though), we’ll discover it next time for sure!
The end
The waters look stunning. This is a common thing for most of the beaches this 2021 in la Costa Brava, which is a lesson for all of us, we should respect nature more, let her breath and regenerate.
So happy nature is having a moment to regenerate that water is absolutely stunning. We’ve just had our first warmer type days and your beautiful posts are making me very excited for spring and summer down here!! I just love reading your blog and your lovely instagram posts too!