Life: Idiotropic

Imagine that Benissa's coastline was once a giant chocolate chip cookie and then along came Cookie Monster held tightly on a leash so that he could only eat half.  Now, you have this varied coastline with bites taken out of it and little rocky crumbs scattered about sticking out of the water.  That's Benissa and that's what makes it absolutely fabulous for swimming, snorkling, kayaking, spear fishing, and a myriad of other things. 

A continuous line of rugged coves from Calpe down to Moraira, this section of rocky coastline is home to a tremendous amount of tropical fish and cephalopods - a snorklers dream.

The road north from Calpe climbs a small hill towards Benissa and winds along the water on the ridge above where white houses with rounded turret-like extensions have a spectacular view of the coast.  From here, small signs point the way down tiny steep driveways that lead you to the water.  There's no warning, so you musn't drive fast or you'll miss the turns.  We did turn around several times over the three days we snorkled here.


Benissa's website is in English and incredibly detailed listing snorkling routes at six of Benissa's coves and even listing the types of sea life living there and what depths you'll encounter.  I copied it all into an email and sent it to myself so that I'd have it available on my iPhone during the trip.

Day One

On day one we tried Cala Baladar lured by the description of "shallow and transparent waters and abundant sea life."  Unfortunately, our trip was planned around a holiday weekend and checking the tides didn't even cross our minds.  The sea was high and the waves rough enough that I worried about my younger ones getting pushed into the rocks.  I can see how it would be amazing. A slippery rock shelf sprawls out from the beach piled high with white rocks to the aqua sea.  It was relatively flat and smooth and would have been easy to walk on dry, but wet, the thin layer of algae felt more like a wet ice arena than a rocky place.  We all nearly fell multiple times.  The sea churned where the shelf ended and a prospective snorkler would begin her adventure to the sea.  Tempting and absolutely beautiful, this cove will have to wait until calmer seas.


From here, we drove just little bit farther to Cala Advocat which would become our favorite.  The parking lot was nearly empty at 11am and just a handful of fishermen stood at the pier's end watching their lines.  A small bar sat at the back of the parking lot serving snacks to a few who lounged there nearly all day.


Again, the sea was high today, so what little beach there would have been was even smaller.  At the widest part, there was only 5' of beach between the water and the wall and most of that was taken up with piles of sea weed that was in that day.  I walked carefully along the beach around to the other side of the cove.  With the tide out, the beach would easily line the entire cove.



A pool style metal ladder is attached to the cement pier half way down so that you can enter the water at a deeper part.  This is the perfect cove for children because the pier creates a calm area protected from the currents where the kids can snorkle easily.  Between the ladder and the rocks sticking out at the end of the pier is a place with large sea plant covered boulders that create valleys in the sea where fish dart in and out.  We've seen all these fish before at the Oceanographic, Valencia's popular aquarium.  We felt as if we were swimming in one of the giant tanks there with so many amazing creatures swimming around us.  I followed them and they didn't seem bothered by my presence.


At the end of our first day we stopped at the little bar for lunch.  Open from June 1st until mid October each year, the sweet lady who runs it is a local icon now known well by travelers who have been drinking her special Agua de Valencia for the last 20 years.  The girls enjoyed their hamburgers and I ordered calamari which Luci raved about exclaiming that it was "the best calamari that I've ever had."


Day Two

Day two was similar to the first trying first a cove that was too rough, then settling into our favorite.  It was sad.  The first cove at Cala Llobella was just what it promised to be:  quiet, secluded, beautiful.  There wasn't a sign pointing it out, so you had to know to look for "La Chaka" and turn sharply there down the hill to the empty parking lot.  The thin path led directly to a beach full of large white stones.  A women sat on a large boulder in the distance reading a book, but our beach was otherwise private.  I could have lounged there all day and, since I'd decided that today would be a lounge day instead of a water day, it would have been perfect with the pines overlooking us on the hills and just the sound of the rolling waves to dream to.  Sadly, this solid rock shelf jetted out with a slick surface like Baladar and waves that were just rough enough to keep our girls from the water.  May be with low tide it would have been better.


At least we know Advocat now and it was just around a bend to the north 4 minutes down the road.  Today I stood on the pier watching Kirk snorkle all around the larger area in the cove where the water is rougher and the currents pull and push on you.  The three younger girls took turns dipping their toes in.  Kirk came back and brought Arianna into the rougher part holding onto her the entire time.  The rains from last night stirred up the sea and made the water murkier, so neither Luci nor Elise swam long, but they were content to play.  There were a lot of older German tourists there.  They were friendly and greeted us in English, but I spoke a little German with them.  It is nice to hear it.  Walter came up and introduced himself.  He sounded very British at first, telling me in quite a strong accent that I was the first American that he's ever met there.  He's actually German, but has lived there in Benissa for the last 40 years.  So, while my family swam and Tiara took her dog for a walk, I talked about history, politics, travel, and education with this amazing well traveled German man who was once in a US POW camp after WW2.


Today on the way back to our hotel we found an amazing thing for Spain - a grocery store that is open on Sunday! Catering to the number of expats and tourists, it has a wonderfully eclectic assortment of foods including leberwurst.  This was lunch... a variety of odds and ends that we picked up here.


Day 3

Today, instead of fussing with a beach that would be too rough, we headed directly to Cala Advocat where I was first to don fins and hit the water.  It was the clearest that we'd seen it so far and the fish were more abundant than ever.  I could see schools from the pier before ever getting in.

It was amazing.  As soon as I got into the water and began swimming, I found myself in the midst of a school of large silver fish.  There were probably 50 of them.  I swam out past the pier towards the other side of the cove, and circled around before heading back.  There, there are wide flat platforms of rock with deep valleys between them.  In some areas it was quiet, but in others there was a flurry of life with an amazing variety of different fish all swimming around together.  I watched some nibble on the plants moving with the currents.  I found a couple more schools.

Kirk saw more yesterday than I was seeing now, I thought, though I think I rushed it.  The currents were strong and there were moments when I began to feel panicky that I wouldn't be able to get back.  I didn't stay out long and felt fine getting out of the water and allowing Kirk time to swim and explore again.

The girls and I talked to the lady fishing at the end of the dock.  She pulled the dead silver fish out of her bucket, made it talk, and pushed it towards the girls laughing.  We all laughed.  She was very friendly and let the girls each touch it.  The got cold and went inside the car to play.

Luci got her wish to order her favorite calamari before we left.  I had a tinto de verano and watched the lady make Agua de Valencia for the next table.  Cointreau, vodka, gin, orange juice, and cava.  Powerful and delicious.  She only sells it by the liter, but our kind neighbors allowed me a sip.  They've been drinking it here for years.

Must be nice, those years.  I'd like to say that too.  Or to be like Walter and know the place intimately living there for 40 years.

Here, along the coast, there is a nice blend of locals and expats.  Enough locals so that it still feels like Spain and has retained the culture, but enough expats to bring with them services and openness and some of their own culture to throw into the mix.  It's really amazing.

We all hope to come back.

The Guide:  http://www.tiffanyweber.com/2010/10/snorkling-in-benissa-spain_17.html