Nudist beaches

Cala de l’Illa Roja, or the Red Island Cove, is named after the reddish rock sitting right next to it. The beach Illa Roja is one of the most famous nudist beaches of the Costa Brava.

The beach is 120 meters long and 20 meters wide. It is a large-grain sand beach that lacks any type of city beach infrastructure like outdoor showers, toilets, cafés or lifeguard stations. Considering that the beach visitors usually only wear birthday suits while there, it is a wild beach at its finest. Thankfully, its patrons keep it sparkling clean and garbage-free — litter, cigarette butts, let alone empty bottles or discarded cans, are hard to find.

You can reach the Illa Roja nudist beach along Camí de Ronda from Platja del Racó beach or Sa Riera beach. If you are staying in Sa Riera, it may be easier to access Camí de Ronda by going down the public stairs in front of Carrer Sa Punta Negra 44.

Directions: The coordinates (41.866668, 3.171004) correspond to the parking lot near which you will find access to the cove, but avoid the Cap Roig botanical gardens on the way as the road quality requires a sports utility vehicle. Instead, take highway C-31 towards exit 328 for Castell, then enter “Cala Estreta” into Google Maps. The road leading to the cove may appear as Camí de la Fosca or Ruta dels Xalets depending on your GPS.

Directions: Drive from Roses along Carretera a Montjoi towards the point (42.243948, 3.222508) where you may park and hike down for about 15 minutes.

Directions: Walk from the Valentina tower along Camí de Ronda for 5-10 minutes.