When should I visit As Catedrais beach?
If you want to go down to the sand enjoy its rock formations from up-close, you should visit it at low tide, or an hour before low tide.
Can I visit As Catedrais beach during high tide?
As Catedrais beach can be visited at any point during the day. If you go at high tide, you can enjoy the beach from the cliffs.
There are signs for the Seaside route all along the cliff, and you can enjoy an equally spectacular, albeit different, view of the beach.
What is low tide?
Low tide is the time of the day when the seawater level is at its lowest point in the tidal cycle.
The tide lowers twice a day and rises twice as well, which means it spends approximately 6 hours rising and 6 hours lowering.
What time of the day does low tide occur?
The times of low tides vary every day, so you need to check the tide tables.
How do I read the tide table?
In order to read and understand the tide table, you should look at:
- The “low tide” (bajamar) column, which indicates the moment when the tide stops retreating and the water is furthest away from the cliff. It is important to know what time the tide will come in again, and go one hour in advance.
- The “height” (altura) column indicates the height in metres the sea will reach. As you will find, it shows a different level everyday. The closer it is to 0, the lower the tide will be, making those days the best to visit the beach. You will also find that the lowest tides occur around full moon.
- Check whether the table is Greenwich Mean Time or Spanish time. If it is GMT, you will have to add an hour during the Standard Time months (in the winter), when Spain is GMT+1. During Daylight Saving Time, in the summer, you have to add two hours.
Are there height differences between low tides?
Tides can have different heights depending on lunar phases. Thus, there are spring tides and neap tides. During spring tides there are large height differences between low tides and high tides, making this the best time to visit the beach.
When do spring tides occur?
During full moon (or, to be more precise, the three days following a full moon).
When do neap tides occur?
Neap tides occur during waxing moon (the week before full moon). It is the worst time to visit the beach, as there is no way to go down to the rock arches without getting wet, even at low tide.
Is the access to the beach restricted?
Secondly, the access to the beach is free and, in principle, the restriction will be carried out between 1 July and 30 September and during Easter. The sandy area can be visited by a maximum of 4812 people per day.
How can you get the authorization?
Today, there are several ways of getting the authorizations to visit As Catedrais beach:
- If the visitors are accommodated in the municipality of Ribadeo, they can request a pass at the establishment and they will have direct entry.
- There is a shuttle bus “Bus Praia” that departs from Ribadeo (1st departure from the Tourist Office). You can check the schedules for the month of July at: http://turismo.ribadeo.org. Take into account that the colour of the outward ticket might correspond with an hour of return. It is said that if you leave at the time indicated in blue, you must take the return bus at the hour of the same colour. With the bus ticket you have guaranteed entry to the sandy area.
- Through a website authorised and managed by the Galician regional government (Xunta de Galicia): https://ascatedrais.xunta.es. The reservations through this website can be made up to a maximum of 15 days in advance. If you have any doubt or problem during the reservation process you might contact the citizen information telephone of the Galician regional government (Xunta de Galicia) “012” or the authority responsible through the “Subdirección Xeral de Espazos Naturais”. We provide you the telephone number: 981 547 203.
Is the access limitation integral in the whole space?
The access restriction is to go down to the sandy area and the visit might fit the low tide schedule, since otherwise the beach is not accessible because it gets covered by the water. In the attached bus schedule you can check the low tide hour.
Who manages the regulation of the access to the sandy area?
The whole access system is managed by the Galician regional government (Xunta de Galicia). The Council of Ribadeo does not have any competence to manage the possible complications that can arise