Beaches
Manilva's 7.8 km of
beaches run in a NE-SW direction and range from low cliffs
and rocky coves at Punta Chullera to the 6.9 kms of wide
sandy beaches broken only by the village of Castillo and
the marina at Puerto de la Duquesa.
Like so many things
in this part of the world there is disagreement and confusion
as regards the names of the different beaches depending
on which map you look at. Where this occurs we will give
you the name according to the Instituto Geografico Nacional
followed by the local tourist map names in brackets.
Starting at Punta
Chullera in the Southwest here are descriptions of each
of Manilva's beaches:
 Punta
Chullera
This
is a small rocky cape at the extreme western end of the
municipality and the small cove at the mouth of the arroyo*
Calataraje is the boundary with the municipality of San
Roque in the province of Cadiz. This rocky shore has shallow
waters which are clear and clean and are home to an abundace
of sea life including octopus and sea urchins (bathers
beware). Adjacent to Punta Chullera, and extending into
the municipality of San Roque, is the popular Playa de
la Chullera.
*An arroyo is a river
which only runs during rainy periods.
 Playa
de los Toros
This small cove is a lovely quiet spot, bordered by rocky
outcrops either side and is about 100m wide and consists
of a fine shingle (shell).
The beach can be reached,
from the Malaga bound carriageway of the coast road, by
taking the sliproad immediately before the pedestrian
bridge at Punta Chullera and following the road to the
end. You will also find the Sal y Sol chiringuito on this
beach.
Playa
del Gobernador (Las Arenas - The Sands)
This beach is 850 metres in length and 30 metres wide
and accessed from the Playa Paraiso Urbanisation or from
the Venta de Asfalto just before the Paraiso roundabout
from the Malaga bound carriageway.
Cala
de la Sardinia
Sardine Cove is a small beach of 150m in length nestled
between two groups of rocks and runs adjacent to the 'Playa
Paraiso' urbanisation between Playa del Gobernador and
Playa de Tubalitas.
Playa
de Tubalitas (El Negro)
This beach, whose 650m run from the Cala de la Sardina
to the Arroyo Negro, is bordered by the smooth hills typical
of this end of the municipality, and is well known as
a passage for tuna fish and used to be the location for
networks of 'tunny nets' used to catch these fish.
El
Negro (Los Toros)
Named locally after the bulls which exited the adjacent
Canada Real (Royal gorge) en route to Estepona from Los
Barrios. It is the longest beach in Manilva and for more
than half of it has no buildings by it. The beach runs
from the Aroyo Negro up to the arroyo del Indiano just
to the west of Castillo.
La
Duquesa (Playas Castillo and Duquesa)
Extending from the arroyo del Indiano to the the arroyo
de la Penuela, the 1150m beach includes the village of
Castillo and the Blue Flag marina of Puerto de la Duquesa
and ranges from rocky outcrops at the Castillo end to
wide sandy bays either side of the Marina. This beach
was awarded a blue flag in 2005 and it is a popular bathing
spot and has three chiringuitos (beach bar/restaurants)
and in the summer various water sports and activities
are available on the Sabinillas side of the Marina.
Sabinillas
Running between the Port of Duquesa and the Rio Manilva
this 1650m Blue Flag beach runs in front of the entire
town of Sabinillas and the Unicaja Summer School (Colonia
Infantil). The beach is a popular recreation area and
is also still used by local fisherman who operate their
boats from the beach using capstan winches to pull them
back out of the water at the end of each voyage.
Outside of winter
there are numerous showers available to bathers and during
the summer the beach is watched over by several lifeguards
and firstaiders. The beach is cleaned daily throughout
the year and is one of the area's great assets. |
