Today we begin our route after watching sunrise from the beach. We will look out to the lighthouses at the port and realise that, at times like this, it is worth getting up early.
Our stage today takes place between the towns of La Vila Joiosa and El Campello. In less than 10 miles we will find 10 semi-urban coves located in sparsely populated areas and interesting natural sites that open up to the Mediterranean. Each one is more charming than the last.
We start from the southern end of Playa Centre, just beyond the breakwater that protects it from the storms of the south and very close to the mouth of the Amadorio river, which originates at the top of the Aitana mountains and flows into La Vila Joiosa.
Our first paddles will be calm, in crystal-clear waters until arriving -in just a few metres- at the cove of Les Puntes del Moro. After passing this small cove we will continue past a high white cliff and we will reach the Iberian La Mallaeta site and the Torre-Estudio del Doctor José María Esquerdo.
We will pass Paradís, an open beach that maintains its natural environment of pebbles and sand, reaching Punta del Bol Nou, which separates us from the gravel and fine sand beach of the same name and isprotected between two cliffs.
We continue to l'Esparrelló beach, at the foot of a cliff, and on to La Caleta. After a section of cliff, this pebble beach marks the end of the urban part of La Vila Joiosa, giving way to another stretch from where you can see the Tower of Xarco, the first of the watchtowers of today's stage. King Felipe II instructed the Italian engineer Antonelli to fortify the coast of Alicante and build the system of watchtowers.
We leave the cove of Xarco to continue for a kilometre and a half under a white cliff, with no possible escape, until we reach Carritxal beach, shared by the two municipal districts of today's stage.
Ready to cross the rest of the campellera coast, we pass another cliff section to reach the cove of Les Palmeres. We continue bordering the cliffs and towns, finally reaching Cala Lanuza and, a few meters further on, Baeza cove, protected by a large spur that turns it into a small port.
From this point, we can already see the Pueblo Acantilado residential area, easily identifiable by the colours of its buildings. A little further on is the Torre del Barranc d'Aigües. After sailing along almost two kilometres of cliff-lined coast with no escape, we reach Barranc d'Aigües beach.
We continue through the Piteres cove, Enmig and el Morro Blanc, coves which are also protected by a natural spur that gives it very calm waters and which makes it very ideal to spend the day with the family.
Right in front we will see the point andcave of LLop Marí, which we reach after passing Cala Nostra and Cala de l'Amerador. A very attractive area for practising diving due to its rich fauna, flora and geology because it has chambers of great environmental and scenic value. It was an old Roman quarry and is an ideal place if you love diving and legends, because they say that the Berber pirates that ravaged our land during the sixteenth century entered through the cave and reached the interior of Cabeçó d'Or mountain to guard their treasure.
After passing this point, we stop in Baños de la Reina, a unique environment in the Mediterranean that tells us about past times and is under the watchful protection of the Torre de l'Illeta.
We continue, passing the Port and Campello Sailing Club to disembark at Carrer del Mar beach.