1st September – A Pobra do Cariminal

The Ria de Arousa is the biggest of the Rias on this coast.

A ria is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea.

There are lots of marinas and bays to anchor in. Think Poole harbour but bigger. From the entrance to the Ria to A Pobra de Cariminal is about 8 miles. You are still in very deep water and it feels very odd when you get ships passing you on their way up to the large town called Vilagarcia.

The marina at Caraminal was large and fairly empty, but did show signs that there were other visitors. It was also very cheap at €17 per night. The town was a decent size and had two large supermarkets next to each other. Spotting it was a long walk from them it was decided that Oli and I would shop and Ethan and Russell would return to the beach opposite the shops with the dinghy. This was met with much amusement from the people on the beach. It was obviously not a common occurrence. The quick pick up was foiled by the shop wanting to see my passport or drivers licence before accepting my cash card. This meant Russ had to go back to the boat. He returned and the manager then apologised on realising it was a prepaid cash card and not a credit card. I didn’t need the ID after all. I now keep my drivers licence with me just in case.

We also needed to get gas which was a decent walk to a petrol station where we purchased ice cream but no gas. We had asked the police for directions and they had told us if the petrol station did not have it a hardware store on our return would. Luckily it opened again at 4pm and we only had to wait ten minutes. The gas cost €15 compared to the £25 we were charged in Falmouth.

We stayed a couple of days in Cariminal. The beach was quite stoney but the water was warmer.