Les Rotes promenade

ROCKY COVES AT LAS ROTAS, GERRO TOWER AND CAPE SAN ANTONIO

Starting at Dénia’s Tourist Office we’ll go right and south, towards Les Rotes.

The houses on our right call our attention since it is an area where there are two old fishermen quarters at the end of two small squares, at the end of Amaltea and Aldebaran Streets. In some of the façades we can read glazed tiles with inscriptions informing us that these houses once belonged to sailors.

We follow on until we reach the premises of Dénia’s Nautical Club where there are moorings for ships up to 20 m. long, a rowing school, sailing and canoeing, a heated swimming pool, etc. The Nautical Club has a long tradition organising nautical regattas, with a year long calendar of important sailing regattas, as well as rowing, canoeing, sport fishing and swimming.

We cross the road to the Nautical Club and follow the exterior pavement, which will take us away from les Rotes Road and along the coast. There are several pubs in this area. We reach a rotunda with a monument: the Monument to Mount Montgó, a piece of art by sculptor Castejón, representing the mount sheltering us.

To the left of the rotunda we find the Southern Breakwater, where there is the La Marina Sports Port, a recently built port where there are moorings for ships up to 60 m. long, as well as sport schools (sailing, canoeing, etc.), nautical shops, restaurants, cafés, pubs and terraces with splendid views.

It will be worth your while to take a stroll along this nice sports port.

After visiting the port we go back to the rotunda with the Monument to Mount Montgó and we’ll walk along the promenade bordering the Marineta Casiana beach, the only sandy beach in the les Rotes area.

This promenade runs along all Marineta Casiana beach. If we continue our walk we reach the les Rotes rocky coves. We must point out the savage beauty of this landscape where blues and greens of the sea, crystal clear waters and bends along the coast show us a relaxed inspiring beauty. From the beginning of the rocky coves we already are in the Cape of Sant Antoni SeaReserve since it includes the coves and the cape right to its far eastern end. It is environmentally protected. For more information regarding the Reserve look up the Nature Section in this web.

*On July, 10 2005: the Sea Reserve has been extended to include the rocky coves of les Rotes. Valencian Legislation DOGV 5.027

On the way along the coast we’ll find people taking a walk and cycling and enjoying the environment. We’ll also discover benches where we can sit down, read a book or simply relax and observe the landscape in peace and quiet.

In the last section of the promenade, if we lift our sight to the right (against the sea) we can see a small tower on a hilltop. It is known as the Torre del Gerro, a watchtower from the 16th c., which we can come back and visit another day following the footpath that brings us to it.When we reach the promenade’s end we’ll see a restaurant and, after that, we’ll see the end of the asphalted road of les Rotes.

Long before arriving you’ll see the cliff of the Cape of Sant Antoni, although the finest views are at the end of the les Rotes road, in the rotunda cutting the road, where the cliffs of the Cape of Sant Antoni rise 160 m. above sea level.

After reaching the end of les Rotes we’ll retrace our steps and we’ll walk along the promenade bordering the sea that will bring us back to Dénia.

NOTE: If you drive a car you will take another road to reach the higher part of the Cape of Sant Antoni: getting out of Dénia towards les Rotes, we take the mountain detour to Xàbia known as les Planes Road which, after several kilometres, will signpost the Cape of Sant Antoni to the left. You are requested to be careful since you’re on a narrow mountain road with quite a few bends.