Órzola’s cave offers some terrific photo opportunities, but it’s also a walk that requires a little caution and planning. Let tour guide David Penney lead the way…
Our walk starts at the SUMA supermarket on the lefthand side as you enter Órzola. Head towards the village, but take the first turn on the left just after you cross a small bridge. Although there are no signposts, you will know that you are on the right route as the tarred road stops very quickly and becomes a rough and narrow track.
Within a few minutes you will see a white building on the right-hand side and a sign which reads DANGEROUS BEACH. We continue along the dirt track as it snakes round to the right, then to the left and back round to the right, until we come to a car-parking area at the end of the track.
Several locals call this remote beach “Playa Peligrosa” (“dangerous beach”), although its actual name is Playa de la Cantería. Despite its beauty, it is not known by most tourists and is more popular with experienced surfers.
During the winter months the cliffs above are used as a launching point by many paragliders.
DO NOT let the beauty of this wild beach tempt you into taking a dip. It is not a place for swimming – there are strong currents and rip tides, no lifeguards and lives have been lost here.
We timed our arrival perfectly as the hidden sea cave can only be accessed at low tide, when you also get a broad, beautiful expanse of wet sand. Check the Tide Tables in this magazine or online and don’t take any risks.
From the beach car park, we walked across the entire length of the beach to the left.
We have now reached a rocky point and clambered up to the top, where we can see the sea cave tucked away to our left. There are several sections of the rocks which act like steps down to the left and lead us to the mouth of the sea cave.
The timing has to be judged well so you don’t get caught out by a wave, I advise my friends to keep their training shoes dry if possible because the rocks are very slippery when they are wet. Once on a previous visit I saw a local guy who was over confident, didn’t pay attention to the hazards and slipped in to the ocean.
We spent about 30/40 minutes at the cave, taking photos and even having a little paddle. Again care must be taken here because just outside the mouth of the sea cave there is a sunken step in the sand and if you don’t pay attention you can be in much deeper water very quickly.
We had to watch the time because the tide starts to come in fairly fast and if you don’t pay attention you can get cut off. We clambered back over the rocks and dropped back down to the beautiful golden, long sandy beach.
We enjoyed a walk to the far side and took a few moments to look back in admiration of our experience where we truly had discovered a hidden gem.
WALK INFORMATION
This is a linear 4km walk which should take you 2 hours to complete. The terrain is easy, however, there are some rocky outcroppings to scramble over.
You can take the number 9 but from Arrecife to get off at Orzola. Get off on the earliest stop in Orzola as that’s the closest point to the beach.
The cave is only accessible at low tide.
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