Berruguete Beach

The hearts are what bring people down here. An older man painted them on the walls by the beach, and he is often around, looking after the sand and the spot he made his own. The colour has thinned. Many walls in the streets above have been painted over in grey, and only some keep their old brightness, so come for what remains of it.

Below all that, the beach is a quiet stretch of shore facing the open ocean, well away from the busier parts of the island.

• Street parking is very scarce; the nearest car parks are about 570 m and 830 m away in a straight line.
• The streets down to the beach are steep, with many stairs, and you climb them again on the way out.
• There are no toilets and no drinking water at the beach or nearby. Bring what you need.
• Much of the painted colour is gone under grey paint. Some walls keep it, so expect remnants.
• People live behind the painted walls. Keep your voice down and leave doorways clear when you take photos.

The bus is the simplest way in: the Boca Cangrejo stop is about 120 m from the beach in a straight line, and from there the rest is on foot through the neighbourhood.

By car it is harder. Spaces in the streets are very few, and the nearest car parks sit about 570 m and 830 m away in a straight line. From either, you walk down steep residential streets and flights of stairs to reach the water, past the walls where the painted hearts are.

Best: morning, when the sun is on the water and the streets are still quiet.

Avoid: days of heavy Atlantic swell.

The beach looks out east, so the light arrives early, and a big swell makes the shore no place to swim.