El Sargo Beach

An abandoned pool and a few houses sit above a shore of dark rock and pebbles, and nothing else has been built here: no café, no sunbeds, nowhere to sit. That emptiness is the appeal. The cove feels like a private beach, with the Atlantic working the stones back and forth in the backwash.

When the waves are small, the water is good for swimming off the rocks. Most people meet El Sargo on foot, as a stop on the coastal walk between Mesa del Mar and El Pris, and the walk is the best way to see it.

• The beach is all rock and pebble with no sand and nowhere to sit; bring something to sit on and shoes you can wear on the stones.
• There are no facilities at the beach. The nearest toilets are about 440–465 m away in a straight line.
• There is no drinking water nearby — fill up before you come.
• Swimming only works when the waves are small; on a day with swell, walk the coast instead.

The Telémaco bus stop is about 290 m away in a straight line, and two car parks sit about 260 m and 315 m away. From any of them the last stretch is on foot.

The other way in is along the coast. El Sargo lies on the walk between Mesa del Mar and El Pris, so you can start at either end and reach the beach partway, then carry on to the other village and back.

Best: a calm day with small waves, ideally in summer.

Avoid: days when the swell is running, and the winter months if swimming is the point.

This is an open north-facing shore of the Atlantic, so the sea decides whether a swim is possible, and there is no shade on the rocks at midday.