Playa de la Caleta

About Playa de la Caleta

La Caleta is the beach of Cádiz's old town, a sandy cove about 450 metres long framed by two sea forts: the Castillo de Santa Catalina at one end and the Castillo de San Sebastián, out on its rocky spit, at the other. It is the smallest beach in the city and is cut off from the long Atlantic strand of La Victoria.

Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans used the cove as a natural harbour, and small fishing boats still moor here. The white Balneario de Nuestra Señora de la Palma, opened in 1926 with onion-domed towers and a curved front open to the sea, replaced older wooden bathhouses; today it houses the Andalusian heritage institute's underwater archaeology centre. Isaac Albéniz named a piano piece after the beach, and Die Another Day and Alatriste were both filmed here.

The water is usually calm. In summer there are lifeguards, showers, toilets and sunbed hire, and a palm-lined promenade leads past the balneario to both castles. Locals use it heavily, so space is tight at weekends.

May, June and September bring warm water without the August crush. Come in the late afternoon: the cove opens to the west, and watching the sun set beside San Sebastián castle is a Cádiz ritual.

Playa de la Caleta in pictures

What you’ll find

• Beach lifeguardSupervised swimmingFree
• Beach sunbedsSunbed hireRent
• Public showersWash bodyFree
• Public toiletsPersonal SanitattionFree
• Sandy beachRest on beachFree
• Sea shoreSnorkellingRentSwimmingFree

Nearby places to visit

From La Caleta it is a short walk through the old town to the Cádiz Museum (900 m), whose archaeology rooms hold the city's Phoenician sarcophagi. The Lithographic Workshop Museum (2 km) is devoted to the craft of printing from stone. For a change of beach, cross to the Atlantic side: Playa Santa María del Mar (2 km) is the smallest and most sheltered of the city's ocean beaches, reached by ramps and spiral stairs, and it leads on to Playa de la Victoria (5 km), the main city beach. Further south towards the isthmus is Playa de la Gamba (6 km). City buses link them.