Cuevona of the town Cuevas, Access only via the cave.

Nature has been generous with Ribadesella. We have a beautiful river, steep mountains close to the sea, a Karstic massif which the potholers really enjoy and a coast which has Sandy beaches, stony beaches, meadows and cliffs.The river Sella, famous for its canoe race, is the most mythic of the Asturian rivers. Sprung from the mountain pass; Pontón, in the Cantabric mountain range. It flows down wildly into the valley through the narrow pass of Beyos. It is one of the most impressive and unexplored spots in the north of Spain. It flows down into the estuary and to the sea, washing the beaches. Its two most spectacular tributaries are: The Cueves stream, which flows through a natural cave, la Boquera, parallel to the road, which accesses the village. The other one is the río San Miguel, which flows from San Miguel de Ucio, running through the interior of the famous caves of Tito Bustillo and to the river Sella near Ribadesella

River Acebo. Geological arch of Torre

Other interesting rivers in the area are the río de Lloviu, which flows down to the Sella through the Tinganón cave, The Guadamía (or Aguamía), which is the border between Ribadesella and Llanes. The river of Torre, which is in fact two rivers el Acebo and el Utrera, join at the hamlet of Torre. The most beautiful part of the Guadamía is at the end where it flows between the water mills of Cuerres and the beach at Llames. The Acebo river in Torre flows through the geological tunnel carved by the river; El Arcu, in whose archway stood a water mill. A Little way down river, the Utrera joins the Acebo and they flow together through the Entrepeñes, a narrow pass made of quartz columns and into the dune of Vega beach. The stream Cerracín, where there was a fulling mill used in clothes manufacture at the start of the 19th century. And is the border with Caravia in the west.

The area around Ribadesella has a large mountain range very close to the sea, this landscape in quite unusual. The highest peak in the Escapa mountain range is Mofrechu at 897 metres, near the hamlet of Santianes. From its summit you can see the estuary, the coast and the Picos de Europa. Easy access is on the south slope by the hamlet of Igena. Other notable mountains are peña Pagadín, a beautiful limestone massif of 490 metres, located between the hamlets of Calabrez, Pandu, Sardéu and Linares. Another peak is La Peruyalina, 493 metres in Tresmonte. To the west of Ribadesella we have the tail of the Sueve range, where we have the excellent mirador of El Fitu, At this point, El Fitu is at the apex of 4 municipalities. The peaks of Gobia 539 metres, La Cruz de Llames 554 metres, adjoin Ribadesella and Caravia.

Valley of Peme.

Spectacular view of the beach at Vega.

The playa de Santa Marina (Santa Marina beach) is the most important beach in the area and is one of the best on the Cantabric coast. This is one of the most popular beaches because it is beautiful, very sandy and very close to the town of Ribadesella. And being only 35 kilometres from the Picos de Europa national park, it is justly called ‘La Playa de los Picos de Europa’. It is located at the mouth of the river Sella. It has the shape of a conch and is lined by two mountains, the Somos, which has a light house and El Corveru, which overlooks the entrance to the port. This beach is equipped with all the modern services, for this reason it has the distinction of being awarded the ‘Q’ of quality from 2004. Not many beaches have this accreditation.In addition there are beautiful houses dating from the early 20th century, running along the promenade of the beach. The other beach of the town is La Atalaya, which could be described as a secret cove, very cosy and very close to the town. Unlike Santa Marina it is a very stony beach, full of pebbles which come from the Jurassic period. This is an enchanted corner of Ribadesella where you can relax and get a suntan

Mouth of the Guadamía river

The promenade of Santa Marina.

The two non urban beaches of the area are Vega, which extends out to Berbes, and Cuerres. Both are located at the extreme ends of Ribadesella, east and west. The beach at Cuerres or Llames beach is like a fiord, in that it forms a long narrow inlet of the sea between steep cliffs. It is located in the mouth of the Guadamía and you can only see the sand when the tide is out. For this reason the people sunbath in the meadows nearby. On stormy days you can see the columns of steam and listen to the jets of water shooting up from the Bufones. But you must take care near the Bufones. The beach at Vega is located to the west of Ribadesella. It has no urbanizations nearby. The beach has sand dunes which are unusual in this part of Spain. Part of the beach is stony and Jurassic fossils have been found there. The far end of the beach is tolerated as a nudist area. Near the beach is an impressive narrow mountain pass called de Entrepeñes, an amazing formation of quartz needles from the Ordovic period. For this reason the beach and the pass have been declared a natural monument of Asturias. Other stony beaches are Arra, Abéu and Tereñes. The Access to Arra can only be gained by steep stony steps. But it is a beautiful cove situated near the town of Collera. Abéu and Tereñes are located in a hollow in the coast and surrounded by green meadows.

The ground around Ribadesella has carboniferous origins. It is very rich in limestone and for this reason in the Miocene period we find the ‘model kástico’ in which caves and caverns where formed in the rock massif, by water. The caves have always been important in the life of the area. In prehistoric times they were used as homes; nowadays they are being explored for archaeological reasons and are an important cultural and touristic resource. The most important caves are on the left side of the river. The majority of them have their entrance in a small blind valley formed by ice-sheets. And it is near here that we have the impressive cave of La Boquera, which the river and the road pass through to Cueves. The furthest cave from the town is Cova Rosa, a wonderful geological formation, located in Sardeu. It was declared a partial nature reserve, because it has an important colony of insects in danger of extinction, and so is out of bounds to the general public. Caves that were occupied in prehistoric times are Les Pedroses, in El Carmen, and El Cierru, in Fresnu. On the opposite side of the river we can find the beautiful cave of San Antonio.

Apart from what has been mentioned, the most important caves are located in the Ardines massif, near the river Sella. In the massif there are a lot of caves that have interconnected galleries. These were created by the model kástico. Some of the corridors are collapsing by cataclysm. The main caves of this network are Tenis cave, La Cuevona and Tito Bustillo cave. Tenis cave is the highest and the mouth of the cave is a natural mirador, overlooking the river Sella. The name of this mirador is La Lloseta. Tenis and La Cuevona caves are connected by a chimney. La Cuevona is a geological huge dome and is illuminated by a hole at the top where the sun shines through most spectacularly. The cave of Tito Bustillo is the jewel of the crown. It is a Palaeolithic treasure for the world, not only for the cave paintings but for the galleries, caverns, stalagmites and stalactites, these must be seen! The river San Miguel flows through the cave and into the river Sella near to the entrance to the cave.