Faro da Porta route

It shares its start with the Monte Faro route and separates at the main junction on the Faro island to skirt the south coast to the faro da Porta, opposite San Martiño island. It is 2.6 km each way, an hour and barely 55 m of maximum ascent: the Cíes route for going with small children.

The path

It is waymarked in green and leaves from the information hut, next to the jetty. The first stretch is the same as the climb to the big lighthouse: you cross Rodas beach, which joins the islands of Monteagudo and Faro, pass the Lago dos Nenos, the campsite entrance and the public toilets (with an adapted toilet), and reach the Information Centre, in the area with the park staff's houses. About 300 metres further on is the island's main junction.

There, instead of climbing to the right, you continue along the concrete-rutted track. On the left are Nuestra Señora beach, small and sheltered, Punta das Vellas and the Viños islet, where the shags dry their feathers in the sun; from a bend, about 100 metres from the junction, it can be seen well. After 45 minutes of walking you reach the Carracido jetty, a service pier built to carry materials to the lighthouses.

From there the path climbs a little and skirts the south coast to the lighthouse, 53 metres above the sea, at the northern end of the Freu da Porta: a channel of about 500 metres with strong currents that separates San Martiño, the wildest island, from the rest of the archipelago. You return the same way.

What to see at the lighthouse

Sitting on the rocks, at the foot of the lighthouse, you see the Furna da Porta, dark caves opened by the sea where cormorants breed. In the cracks grow thrift, sea fennel and angelica. Opposite, on the Sur island, the Furna da Galeira stands out, a cliff with a stone cross in memory of the 26 sailors from Moaña who died in the wreck of the Ave do Mar, in 1956. If you look towards the slope of Monte Faro, the remains of the castro das Hortas peep out among the vegetation, the most important archaeological site found in the Cíes.

With children and to combine

It is a wide track, with little climbing, and has no shade on the final stretch: bring water, a cap and something to eat. The campsite and the campsite restaurant are on the way, there and back.

A waymarked path links this route with the Monte Faro one, so you can do an almost circular route: climb to the big lighthouse, descend by the link and return via the faro da Porta. For the afternoon, Rodas beach is just round the corner. Remember that in high season you first need the Xunta permit and the boat to the Cíes.