Kayaking Up the Xallas Estuary to the Fervenza do Ézaro

From the water, the fervenza do Ézaro looks the way it doesn't to someone coming down the walkway: you paddle in through the mouth of the Xallas, with the granite walls of Monte Pindo on one side, and the guides beach the kayaks a few metres from where the water falls. It is about two hours with Atlantis Aventura, an adventure tourism company in Cee, and you don't need to have ever held a paddle.

From Río do Barco to the waterfall

You meet at praia do Río do Barco, in O Ézaro, where you can park next to the sand. There they give you the kayak, the paddle and the life jacket, and the guide explains the basics before setting off. You paddle upriver, at your own pace, along the last stretch of the Xallas before the sea, between the slopes of the Pindo, a 627-metre granite massif protected within the Natura network. The company beaches the kayaks on reaching the waterfall so you can walk up to the last pool; in summer, a swim in that pool is part of the trip. Afterwards you have nearby the port of O Ézaro and the interpretation centre of the old power station, which is the same one that visitors arriving by land see.

To see the waterfall at night, in summer the same company runs a night crossing on Saturdays, with the fervenza lit up and submersible lights on the kayaks, for €35 per person.

Price, booking and who can go

The daytime route costs from €25 per adult, and the child place, €6. It includes the guide, in Spanish or English, the kayak and the life jacket. Book on the Atlantis Aventura website: you choose the date and time on the calendar and confirmation arrives immediately. At least two people are needed; if the minimum isn't reached, the company offers alternatives. Cancellation is free up to seven days before, and if the guides call off the trip because of the sea conditions or the weather, they refund your money or you change day.

There is no minimum age, but everyone must be able to swim. A child under 7 goes in the kayak with two adults and needs their own child place; with one adult and two children you must book two places plus the child one. Dogs can also go, with a life jacket the company rents for €3: give their size and weight when booking. It is not a wheelchair-accessible activity.

For lunch afterwards, O Fragón, in Fisterra, is half an hour by car, and in the afternoon you can continue to Cape Fisterra for the sunset.