I was not surprised to learn that Cantabria is in the Top Five of the most sought after destinations this summer 2016 by the Spanish. If it is beautiful! Catalonia, Asturias, Andalusia, Castilla y León and last, but not least, the beautiful Cantabria. Much of the credit for being on this list goes to its wonderful beaches.
My in-laws will be there in a week so it occurred to me to review this great Spanish destination wishing that the coming summer would be the most chosen of all. Let's see then some of the best beaches in Cantabria.
Cantabria
It is an autonomous region of Spain, a historical community whose capital is the city of Santander. Is north of Spain, between the mountains and the sea. Did you hear about the Altamira cave and his paintings of 37 thousand years BC? Well, it's over here.
The coast is almost 300 kilometers long and in it stands out a beautiful cape, Cabo de Ajo. Precisely on this beautiful coast we will focus today because it is summer, it is hot and there is nothing like resting in the sun taking a dip from time to time.
The best beaches in Cantabria
The shoreline is studded with exquisite beaches, with fine golden sands, some dunes, some cliffs and emerald green waters. There are 36 remarkable beaches so it is impossible to review them all but look at the number of destinations you have to choose from. It all depends on what you are looking for and you will surely find a beach that suits you: family, friends, nightlife, water sports, etc.
Somo Beach and El Puntal
Somo is one of the widest and longest beaches of Cantabria. Not having shelter has waves so people usually windsurf and you must always pay attention to the colors of the flags because there are usually areas restricted to the bathroom. Its waters are clean and you can spend your holidays without seeing algae, so annoying, and although there is wind there are no currents so they are also clear. The views are its jewels: Santa Marina, Santander Bay, El Puntal.
Yes, El Puntal is one of the views from Somo. As its name indicates, it is a sand spit that acts as a lock to the bay of Santander. If you go for a walk from Somo beach you can get there walking or by boat from the surroundings. In fact, people come like this and hang out, but luckily there is usually a stall or beach bar where you can buy food or drink.
Langre beach
We said above that the coast of Cantabria has cliffs and here is one of them. It is under a 25 meter high cliff, there hides this beach that it knew how to be one of the nudist beaches in Spain long ago. The photograph says it all: isolated, covered, surrounded by green.
It is a quiet and reserved place although the waters are not so much and there are quite a few waves. You must have consulted the movement of the tides because sometimes there can be very little beach left.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it is accessed by going down a ladder and at the top you can park your car paying a couple of euros.
scream
Berria beach it is more than two thousand meters long, it has golden sands and it tends to be very crowded in the summer. It is not an isolated beach, it is semi urban so it has many facilities, but the most important thing is that since 2013 It is a Blue Flag beach.
Oyambre and La Arnía
The first of these two beaches is located at the mouth of the Ría de la Rabia, in the Oyambre Natural Park. It will be two kilometers long at most, and is surrounded by green landscapes and dunes. Oyambre is a very nice beach, well preserved, with beautiful landscapes.
On the other hand, if you like beaches with few people because it is difficult to access them then La Arnía is for you because you have to go down a descending ramp to step on the sand. La Arnía is in Soto de la Marina, a place with even more beaches. Is is far away but it has a good restaurant with tables on a balcony overlooking the same waters.
Also there is a parking lot and there on the water you can see the rocky islets that decorate the coast.
somocuevas
Do you like to walk naked? The Nudist beaches are they your thing? So in Cantabria is Somocuevas. There are some rocks that protect it and at the same time divide it into two parts, the east and the west. The first is more open and the second is smaller.
It is a beach, we could say, rough. That is, it has no facilities of any kind so that means there is no bathroom here, no beach bar or anything. Just nature and isolation ... the best when it comes to going naked.
gate
This beach It is 150 meters long and it is in Piélagos. Also it is a beach with cliffs, tall, beautiful and of geological value. It is also a super quiet beach, which does not overwhelm and does not explode with tourists in summer.
We found it near the Natural Park of the Dunes a very short distance from Liencres.
Trengandin
This is a beach well organized, with the essential services: rental of sun loungers, umbrellas, restaurants, food stalls. Is a family beach of golden sands and transparent waters. It will be about three kilometers long and is in the municipality of Noja.
As I said above in Cantabria there are more than thirty beaches so we should do more articles about the coast of this beautiful part of Spain and talk about all of them. We should include the beach of Cerrias in the vicinity of Santander, a beauty 300 meters long, enclosed in a bay, also the beach of Arnillas or Antuerta. There are so many!
There are many, so if this summer your route puts you with the north looking at Cantabria, try to enjoy a few days of rest in one of them.