Cabo de San Antonio

Cabo de San Antonio closes off the southern end of the Denia coastline, on the boundary with the municipality of Jávea, within the Parque Natural del Montgó. Its cliffs rise more than 150 metres in places, dropping almost vertically into water that grows noticeably deeper and clearer at this point.

A lighthouse since 1855

A lighthouse stands at the tip of the cape, sending out its signal since 1855 with a range of around 48 kilometres; the interior isn't open to visitors, but the ground around it forms a natural viewpoint looking north to Denia and south over the bay of Jávea. Since 1993, the stretch of sea in front of the cape has been protected as a reserve of fishing interest, an area that shelters varied underwater terrain and numerous species tied to rocky seabeds. Beneath the surface, meadows of posidonia, a slow-growing seagrass found only in the Mediterranean, cover much of the seabed and go a long way toward explaining why this particular stretch of coast was singled out for protection, since these meadows anchor much of the food chain that fishing in the area still depends on.

Visiting

It's reached on foot along the Montgó trails that start at Les Rotes, in Denia, or from the Jávea side following the coast north. The path, with little shade, is best walked early in the morning, and it pairs well with any of the area's best viewpoints, since the view from the cape ranks among the widest in the whole Marina Alta region.