A Trio of Little Trips with The Twist
The first, on Thursday October 27th., was to a new destination for my kayaking - Punta Parda. I had been there a month or so ago to check it out for kayaking possibilities.
Punta Parda is the headland on the other side of this little bay. The bay, Cala Cerrada, is shallow and horseshoe shaped - and a very popular bathing spot. There are other bays, less sheltered, either side of Cala Cerrada. Punta Parda is in Murcia Province and where I stood to take this photo is in Almeria Province - and the most eastlery point of Andalucia.
Lovely and calm in Cala Cerrada. This bay is so sheltered I guess it would be possible to launch a kayak in most weather conditions.
Looking back, as I paddled out towards the entrance to the bay, I spotted cave houses. Had to go and have a closer look.
I'm guessing that there was once a fishing community here and these were store rooms for their fishing gear. It's obviously still a good fishing area as outside the bay I had to negotiate my way around long lengths of fishing nets and marker buoys close to the headland.
Looking back from just outside the entrance to Cala Cerrada. Just a gentle swell out here. A lovely morning for kayaking.
First destination was Playa de la Carolina - a bay on the north side of Punta Parda. I wasn't the only kayak on the water that day.
The beach in this bay shelves gently out into shallow water. Another good spot for bathing or launching a kayak.
As you can see, this is a very popular destination for motor homers!
Back out in open water I headed towards the bay (Cala Taray) on the opposite side of the headland. Those two islands, one centre picture (Islote de San Juan de los Terreros) and the other (Isla Negra) to the right against the white cliffs, are possible destinations when I have the bigger and faster kayak currently on order. There is another small island (Isla Cama de los Novios) within reach to the north of Punta Parda. There is scope for a variety of kayaking here.
Another cave (or store) in the secluded bay of Cala Taray. A lovely little bay for those who want to be away from a crowded beaches and motor homes - but access isn't easy. As I found out later, when I tried to walk to it.
Brief stop here, just past Cala Taray, for a leg-stretch and a can of lemonade. It might be October but it was still pretty warm in the sun - the shade under those palm trees looked inviting.
Sculptural, wind eroded rocks at the entrance to Cala Cerrada.
The beach at Cala Cerrada wasn't this busy when I set out at 10:15 am. This is definitely a good spot for kayaking. Time on the water was 2 hrs. and distance covered, according to my Garmin GPS thingy, was 5.2 kilometres - of just leisurely paddling.
Next trip was two days later, Saturday October 29th., for a morning paddle at my more frequently visited place - Villaricos.
Although the settled weather was still with us it was a bit disappointing, when I got to there, to find that sea conditions had deteriorated a bit. The swell had increased somewhat since Thursday and getting on the water might be a tad tricky where I had planned to launch. So I relocated to a more sheltered beach just outside the entrance to the southernmost marina. Outside of that shelter the paddling wasn't quite so leisurely as on Thursday, but it was quite fun - and good exercise! Time on the water was 1½ hrs. and distance paddled was 4.6 kilometres.
I was back for another morning paddle at Villaricos the following day, Sunday October 30th. Sand and salt water had made a mess of The Twist by now, so I thought I might as well have another outing before having to get the hosepipe out.
Sea conditions looked a bit better than the previous day. However the swell was still there, just not so obvious from the shore. Outside the shelter of the marina entrance it was another 1½ hrs. of brisk paddling - well, brisk paddling into the swells, more leisurely riding them back again. Distance covered this time was 5 kilometres.
