Travesía La Cantera

Playa de la Albufereta welcomes swimmers for the Travesía La Cantera, an open water sea competition based along this sandy stretch of the Valencian coast. Both the start and the finish lines are pitched directly on the sands of Playa de la Albufereta. Entering the sea on race morning, competitors meet an amphitheater of calm water. Held in early June, the event features courses of 4000, 2000, and 300 meters to accommodate seasoned marathoners as well as sprinters. The gathering serves as the third scoring stage of the local Liga de Travesías - Copa Alicante circuit. Behind the coordination on the beach and across the race course are the Concejalía de Deportes de Alicante and the Club Natación Aquatic Alicante.

The swim to Postiguet and back

The Travesía La Cantera celebrates its tenth edition on Sunday 7 June. Besides the adult distances there is a 300 m children’s swim designed for swimmers aged 8 to 13. In 2022 the swims started from Albufereta beach in the direction of Postiguet beach and finished at the same place, over an out-and-back circuit marked on the surface of the sea. The council’s announcement for the fifth edition says that fins, paddles and any other aid to propulsion or flotation are not allowed. The council’s page for the 2022 edition sets a maximum duration of two hours from the start of the 4,000 m swim, after which the finish control closes. That fifth edition was expected to bring more than 400 swimmers to the beach.

Playa de la Albufereta and Almadraba: Roman Lucentum by the sea

Playa de la Albufereta is characterized by its dark sand and remarkably tranquil waters, making it an inviting arena for open water swimming. The coastline here also acts as a natural drainage point where rainwater occasionally discharges into the Mediterranean through the mouth of the Joncaret ravine. The sheltered orientation of the bay keeps the surface steady, allowing swimmers to establish an uninterrupted breathing rhythm from the opening strokes. Just up the shoreline extends Playa de la Almadraba, a coastal strip roughly 750 meters long and 6 meters wide framed by rocks and dark, fine sand. In this section, freshwater seepages from an underground aquifer can emerge beneath the seabed, stirring up muddy sediments along the shallows.

Rather than posing an obstacle, this gentle mixing of fresh and marine water quickly disperses into the calm sea conditions that typify the inlet. This entire coastal perimeter falls directly within the influence zone of the ancient Roman city of Lucentum. Excavations carried out along the edge of Playa de la Almadraba have brought to light the remains of a maritime Roman villa alongside historic walls, coins, ceramics, and transport amphorae. Among these finds, archaeologists unearthed a Roman head carved from white marble, dating back to the 1st or 2nd century AD. The sculpted marble portrait stands 22.22 centimeters tall and weighs approximately 14 kilograms, underscoring the deep seafaring history embedded along this very shore.

Cabo de la Huerta: Miocene fossils, pirate towers and coves

Heading out into the open headland of Cabo de la Huerta, the geology shifts toward dramatic rocky shelves. The underwater substrate here is formed from Upper Miocene yellow calcarenites packed with fossilized sea urchins and prehistoric bivalves. Human sentinels have guarded these rocky waters for centuries. A stone watchtower was constructed on the highest point of the cape during the 16th century to detect Berber pirate incursions approaching from the horizon. In later eras, maritime traffic came under the watch of a headland lighthouse, which was electrified in 1935 to cast a beam across 25 nautical miles before the current beacon was erected in 1980. The rocky hem of Cabo de la Huerta holds a series of secluded inlets, including Cala de la Palmera, Cala de los Judíos, and the minuscule inlet of Cala Cantalares.

Protected as a botanical micro-reserve and included within the Natura 2000 network as a Site of Community Importance, Cala Cantalares shelters a vibrant terrestrial and marine ecosystem. Directly above its sand-and-rock shore sits a distinctive sundial known as El barco. The cove of Cala de los Judíos—also known locally as Cala dels Jueus, dels Xodíos, or Cala del Martell—combines sand and stone under the sun.

Sierra Grossa to Mount Benacantil: cliffs, sieges and Postiguet

To the south of Albufereta, the shore changes abruptly at Playa de Serragrosa, resting beneath the slopes of Sierra Grossa. This wild beach is known for its rough rocks, lack of sand, strong waves, and persistent winds. Even amidst these exposed rocks, a small sandy pocket known as El orinalito remains tucked away and shielded from the heaviest surf, offering a miniature haven before the coastline runs toward the city. Dominating the skyline about three kilometers down the coast is Mount Benacantil, a 167-meter rock formation towering immediately over the Mediterranean Sea. When viewed from the shoreline, the profile of the mountain forms the unmistakable rocky silhouette of a face, famously called the Moor's face.

At its very peak perches the Castillo de Santa Bárbara, an ancient citadel whose slopes contain artifacts spanning from the Bronze Age through the Iberian and Roman epochs. During a siege in 1709, attackers dug a mine 29 meters into the mountain rock beneath the fortress and detonated 55 tons of gunpowder, causing a rockslide that engulfed roughly 400 houses in the Raval Roig neighborhood below. A British fleet of 12 warships arrived offshore to provide relief, but rough seas and fierce winds thwarted their naval operations. Today, the destructive scars of that military engineering have found a peaceful purpose. In 1963, the deep void carved out by the 1709 mine was utilized to install vertical elevators, which travel 142.70 meters through the heart of the rock from a 204.83-meter tunnel opening across from Playa del Postiguet. Postiguet itself was once a simple shore of rough stones where fishermen pulled up their wooden boats.