Cala Cantalar - Faro de El Cabo de la Huertas - Playa de San Juan

Cala Cantalar - Faro - Playa de San Juan. / Cantalar Cove - Lighthouse - San Juan Beach.

Inicio de la ruta. Cartel informativo. Start of the route. Informative poster. A map of the route gives us an idea of the coves that we are going to visit. Cabo de la Huerta is located between the beaches of San Juan and Albufereta. This stretch of coast allows you to enjoy a sea experience away from the busiest sandy areas. In Cabo de la Huerta you will find ideal coves to enjoy the sea with the greatest tranquility. Its transparent waters and rocky bottoms are perfect for diving. The Cabo de la Huerta trail can be traversed throughout the year. Reforestation actions have been carried out in the area, combining the Thermo-Mediterranean scrub with isolated groups of pines.

Lantana camara, llamada comúnmente lantana.

Lantana camara (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. Other common names of L. camara include Spanish flag, big-sage (Malaysia), wild-sage, red-sage, white-sage (Caribbean), korsu wiri or korsoe wiwiri (Suriname), tickberry (South Africa), West Indian lantana, umbelanterna, putus in Bengal and Gu Phool in Assam, India.

Salvia rosmarinus, ​conocida popularmente como romero

Salvia rosmarinus, commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was known by the scientific name Rosmarinus officinalis, now a synonym.

Lotus corniculatus.

Nombres comunes: loto corniculado, zapaticos de la virgen, trébol criollo. Lotus corniculatus is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae, native to grasslands in temperate Eurasia and North Africa. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoil,though the latter name is often also applied to other members of the genus.

Cala Cantalar / Cantalar Cove

Cala Cantalar is one of the three coves in Cabo de las Huertas, along with La Calita and Cala de la Palmera. They make El Cabo a place full of different options to go for a walk, take photos and dive. This is a very quiet residential area, in which there is a small cove of sand and rock from which you have beautiful views of the city of Alicante. In addition, on one of the slopes that delimits it, there is a natural reserve of indigenous protected plant species. The Alicante Immortelle grows on these 1.2 hectares, a plant that only grows in the province of Alicante (worldwide!). For this reason, among the coves that we can find in Cabo de las Huertas, this is one of the most beautiful.

Reloj de Sol el Barco / Sundial The Boat

At the top there is a path marked with wooden beacons that ascends to a viewpoint with different views.

Mirador / Lookout

El Cabo de la Huerta has a flora micro-reserve in Cala Cantalares and is part of the Places of Community Importance of the Valencian Community proposed in the Natura 2000 Network (European Union), protecting Posidonia oceanica meadows and rocky bottoms of high environmental quality. Geologically, the rocky substrate of Cabo de la Huerta It is made up of yellowish sandstones deposited about 8 million years ago (Late Miocene) in a shallow marine continental shelf. They contain fossils of urchins and bivalves, being very fossil traces are frequent.

Escultura metálica / Metal sculpture

In honor of the firefighters. En honor a los bomberos.

Suaeda maritima

Suaeda maritima is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common names herbaceous seepweed and annual seablite. Es una planta pequeña comestible nativa del Mediterráneo, Atlántico y el Canal de la Mancha. Vive sólo en suelos salinos costeros.

Olivo / Olive

The olive, known by the botanical name Olea europaea, meaning "European olive", is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin.  We cross the micro-reserve of flora in this natural space. Here you can see the typical vegetation of the low-rise coastal cliffs, where the plants that grow have developed mechanisms of adaptation to the environment or marine breath. We find the bushes dominated by the albardín (Lygeum spartum) and that are called albardinares.

Pino. Pine tree.

Cala Cantalar

This cove is rich in paleontology, having cataloged mollusk fossils. We head towards Cala Cantalares, alternating a route between a path and rocky sections by the sea, until we reach a paved walkway that leaves us at the foot of the micro-reserve of flora.

Erosión (Mioceno superior) / Erosion (Upper Miocene).

Surrounding landscape resulting from erosion on calcareous rocks.

Hinojo marino, o perejil marino (Crithmum maritimum) / Crithmum

Crithmum is a monospecific genus of flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, with the sole species Crithmum maritimum, known as rock samphire, sea fennel or samphire. The name "samphire" is also used for several other unrelated succulent halophyte species of coastal plant. Única especie del género Crithmum. Es una planta comestible silvestre que se encuentra la zona meridional de Europa, en especial la costa del mar Mediterráneo, donde crece en estado silvestre. Es una hierba perenne.

Salado - Suaeda vera .

Suaeda vera, also known as shrubby sea-blite, shrubby seablight or in the USA sometimes as alkali seepweed, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae (formerly classified under the Chenopodiaceae). It is a small shrub, with very variable appearance over its wide range. It is a halophyte, and occurs in arid and semi-arid saltflats, salt marshes and similar habitats. Planta nativa del Mediterráneo, distribuyéndose en España en las marismas de Isla Cristina y el golfo de Cádiz, Murcia, Alicante, Islas Baleares y Lérida. Vive sólo en las marismas y zonas salobres. Costas rocosas.

Cala La Palmera / Cove The Palm Tree

From here we ascend a few meters along a path that progressively acquires a steeper profile, taking as a reference the cairns that delimit the coast, leading us through an enveloping landscape resulting from erosion on the calcareous rocks. We have walked through an area next to coastal platforms where we can see the little egret stirring the silt with its legs to bring out fish and crustaceans. On the platforms adjacent to Cala Palmera, we easily identify fossil traces and appreciate the contrast of the surfaces covered with a mantle formed by green algae.

Cantera de Biocalcarenitas (Piedra Bateig o Piedra Tosca) / Biocalcarenite Quarry (Bateig Stone or Tosca Stone).

In the direction of the Lighthouse, we continue along the upper path following the metal fence that borders it, passing by an old quarry. Stone with which the Cabo de las Huertas Lighthouse was made. Middle-Upper Miocene stone. Piedra con la que se hizo el Faro de El Cabo de las Huertas. Piedra del Mioceno Medio-Superior.

Faro de El Cabo de las Huertas / Cabo de las Huertas Lighthouse

We are located under the Lighthouse, one of the last inhabited by lighthouse keepers in the province of Alicante. This lighthouse with a circular plan and cylindrical volume stands on the remains of the Alcodre watchtower that was built in the 16th century with the main mission of watching the arrival of pirates.

Cabo de las Huertas - Playa de San Juan

Panoramic view of Cabo de las Huertas - Playa de San Juan. We descend towards the easternmost end of the Cape, leaving behind a small cliff, finding an ideal place to observe the curious geomorphology of the area, appreciating the indentations and bars that have a jagged aspect on the coast, with entrances where the strata of calcarenites are less resistant. Opposite, on isolated rocks, it is common to find the odd cormorant in the company of groups of seagulls. From here we have a good perspective of San Juan beach towards El Campello and, as a whole, a panoramic view with a background of Alicante mountains: Cabeçó d'Or, Aitana, Puig Campana, Serra Gelada and the island of Benidorm in the far east.

Posidonia / Posidonia oceanica (Neptune grass or Mediterranean tapeweed) .

Planta acuática, endémica del Mediterráneo, perteneciente a la familia Posidoniaceae. Posidonia oceanica, is a seagrass species that is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. It forms large underwater meadows that are an important part of the ecosystem. The fruit is free floating and known in Italy as "the olive of the sea" (l'oliva di mare). Balls of fibrous material from its foliage, known as egagropili or Neptune balls, wash up to nearby shorelines.

Playa de San Juan con Cabeçó d'Or y Aitana al fondo / San Juan beach with mountains in the background.

Arrived in the easternmost part of the Cape we enjoy magnificent views.

Información Posidonia oceánica / Informational poster.

As for the marine vegetation, along the shore or among the rocks, remains of Posidonia oceanica and some algae are easily detected. Posidonia is an endemic plant of the Mediterranean and has a notable ecological importance since it forms underwater meadows, constitutes the climax community of the Mediterranean Sea and performs considerable work in protecting the coastline against erosion.

Final de la ruta. Inició playa de San Juan / End of the route. San Juan beach started.

On the beach of San Juan, the route ends in front of a clear example of angular unconformity, a stratigraphic discontinuity that separates a lower rocky set belonging to the Upper Miocene (between 8 and 10 million years) from another upper one of the Quaternary, with marine sediments of what would be a fossil beach of 100,000 years ago (Tyrrhenian).