Gulpiyuri Beach

What it is

Gulpiyuri is a beach about 40 metres long in the middle of a meadow, in the municipality of Llanes, next to the village of Naves. It has sand, salt water and waves, but you can't see the sea from it: the Cantabrian Sea breaks a few metres away, behind the cliffs, and the water enters beneath the rock, through galleries that erosion has opened in the limestone. It is a sinkhole flooded by the sea, and it is listed as a natural monument.

The visit is short. You go down, look at it from the edge of the meadow, lean over to the sand and go back. If you like walking, it is also worth going on to the cliffs behind, from where you can see how the water comes in.

Getting there and parking

You can only get there on foot, along a farm track between meadows. There are two approaches:

• From Naves: this is the short one and the most used. Leave the car in the village car park and follow the track between meadows; it is about ten or fifteen minutes on foot.
• From San Antolín beach: a slightly longer walk along the coastal platform, which lets you see that large, open beach on the way.

Naves is next to the A-8, between Ribadesella and Llanes, about fifteen minutes by car from each. In summer the Naves car park fills up by mid-morning: go early or late in the afternoon.

When to go: the tide rules

Without the tide, Gulpiyuri is a puddle with pebbles. At high tide the water fills the basin and leaves almost no sand; the moment it starts to go out, the drainage happens and empties the beach little by little. Check the Llanes or Ribadesella tide table before you go and try to be there around high water. With a ground swell the water comes in with more force and the beach moves as if breathing.

In July and August, at high tide and around midday, there are a lot of people for so little space. Spring and September are better for seeing it to yourself.

Services and swimming

It has no services: no lifeguard, no toilets, no showers. Turismo Asturias mentions a nearby beach bar in season, but don't count on it. The water is shallow and cold; if you swim, do so at high tide and without going far from the shore. It is not accessible for wheelchairs or pushchairs: the path goes across a sloping meadow.

Pets are banned from the beach. If you go with a dog, stay with it in the meadow, off the sand.

What else to do nearby

From here it is a quarter of an hour to Llanes and its coastal path to Celorio, and the same to Ribadesella, where the boat along the Acantilados del Infierno leaves for the Pría blowholes. To sleep in Llanes you have the La Estación hostel.