Before there were cars in Begur, the fishermen of the town walked to work. They came down off the hill on foot, roughly two and a half kilometres of path through the pines, to the cove where their boats were pulled up on the gravel. That path still exists and is still signposted, which means Sa Tuna is one of the few places on the Costa Brava where the oldest way to arrive is also the best one. And on summer evenings, in the tall cave at the right-hand end of the beach, people still sing habaneres — the music Begur brought back from Cuba.
Cuba, and the Cave at the End of the Beach
Begur spent the nineteenth century sending its people to Cuba. The figure usually quoted is around 500 emigrants from a town of some 2,000 — fishermen, sailors and farmhands who left for the sugar and tobacco trade, and a minority who came back rich. Those returnees, the americanos, built the ostentatious colonial houses that still line the streets up in the town, and Begur throws them a party every year on the first weekend of September, the Fira d’Indians.
Sa Tuna is the other end of that story: not the villas of the ones who prospered, but the working waterfront the rest of them left from. What came back with the survivors, besides the money, was the habanera — the slow, sea-going song form that narrates exactly this history of leaving and returning.
Which is where the cave comes in. The Cova de Sant Pau is a naturally eroded grotto at the right-hand end of the cove as you look out to sea, high enough to stand in and deep enough to give real shade in August — genuinely useful on a beach with almost no natural cover. In summer it doubles as a venue: habanera performances are held inside it, traditionally accompanied by ron cremat, rum burned with sugar, lemon and cinnamon and served hot. Dates are set locally each season and are not fixed, so check with the Ajuntament de Begur or the tourist office rather than turning up hopefully.
What the Cove Is Like
Small, and honest about it: something like 80 metres of shoreline by 25 deep. The shore is coarse sand, gravel and grey pebbles — there is no soft sand here at all, and the stones continue underwater, so the entry is a careful one. Water shoes are not a refinement at Sa Tuna, they are the difference between swimming and hobbling.
The reason the cove is as calm as it usually is sits a couple of hundred metres offshore: the Punta d’es Plom, an arm of rock that breaks the swell before it arrives. Behind that shelter the water is very clear over a dark bottom, which is what gives Sa Tuna its particular colour in photographs. Ringing the gravel are the low whitewashed houses with painted doors, small boats still hauled up between them, and a handful of terraces at the water’s edge.
The shelter is not total. The cove faces northeast, and an easterly wind comes straight into it — the water turns choppy, the visibility goes, and there is undertow at the edges. On those days the swimming is poor and the scenery is spectacular, which is a fair trade if you knew before you set out.
S’Eixugador, the Cove Round the Corner
A short stretch of coastal path from the right-hand side of the beach leads to s’Eixugador, a small wild inlet of rock and pine with no services of any kind. The name means “the drying place” in Catalan, which tells you what it was for: nets and gear, spread out above the working beach.
It is worth the ten minutes. Sa Tuna is beautiful but it is also a hamlet with restaurants and a car park, and s’Eixugador is what the same coast looks like without either. Keep going north along the camí de ronda and you reach Cala d’Aiguafreda, rockier and pine-backed, with the clearest snorkelling water of the three.
How to Get to Sa Tuna
On Foot from Begur
The old fishermen’s path from the town centre is signposted and takes about forty minutes downhill over roughly two and a half kilometres. It is the historically correct arrival, it is prettier than the road, and it removes the parking problem entirely. The catch is obvious: it is uphill on the way back, at the end of a beach day, and there is no bus to rescue you. Take water.
By Car
From Begur, the GIV-6534 winds down to the hamlet in about ten minutes — a genuinely twisting descent through pine woods, narrow in places and unpleasant to meet a delivery van on. There is no car park on the beach. What exists is a regulated zone at the entrance to the hamlet, blue-zone paid in summer, plus a small covered paid lot a short walk from the sand. Roadside parking along the access road is monitored and ticketed. In July and August, before ten in the morning or don’t bother.
Along the Camí de Ronda
Coastal paths link Sa Tuna to Aiguafreda to the north and, further round the headland, to Platja d’Aiguablava. Walking in from a neighbouring cove is the standard local solution to a full car park in August.
Map
Eating and Sleeping at Sa Tuna
There is no chiringuito on the gravel. What there is instead is a short row of restaurants directly on the front, doing fish and seafood with the cove in front of them, and this is the rare case where the view and the food are both the point rather than one excusing the other. Beyond those, an ice cream shop and a small store: no supermarket, no nightlife, nothing to buy. If you want a full day here without a restaurant bill, bring it with you.
Sleeping is the same story in miniature. A small hotel and a couple of guesthouses sit in the hamlet itself, measured in single-figure room counts, and they book out months ahead for summer. What they buy you is the version of Sa Tuna nobody else sees — the cove at seven in the morning, before the first car comes down the hill. Begur town, ten minutes up the road, has everything else: the range of hotels, the restaurants, the castle on its hill and the indiano houses that make the walk down here mean something.
When to Go
The variable that decides a day at Sa Tuna is the wind, not the calendar. This cove faces northeast; with anything from the east the sea gets up and the swimming goes. Check the forecast for wind direction rather than temperature the night before, and if it says easterly, go to a south-facing beach and come here another day.
Given a settled forecast, June and the first half of July are the best of it: warm enough water, and the hamlet still functioning as a place rather than a queue. August is the month to avoid if you have any choice — a cove 80 metres wide with one small car park does not absorb a Costa Brava August gracefully. September is the connoisseur’s pick, warm sea and empty gravel, with the Fira d’Indians up in the town on the first weekend if you want the other half of the story.
Out of season Sa Tuna reverts to a very quiet hamlet where a couple of restaurants may or may not be open. The walk down from Begur, on the other hand, is arguably better in November than in August. For the wider picture of which Costa Brava coves keep something running in winter, see our Costa Brava beach rankings.
Practical Tips
- Check the wind direction, not the temperature. An easterly ruins this particular cove and leaves the south-facing ones fine.
- Water shoes. Gravel and stones from the top of the beach to well beyond the waterline.
- Walk down from Begur if you can face walking back up. Forty minutes, signposted, and it solves parking outright.
- Claim the cave early on a hot day. The Cova de Sant Pau is most of the shade this beach has.
- Don’t count on bringing a dog. Begur restricts animals on its beaches in season; check current municipal rules before travelling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you walk to Sa Tuna from Begur?
Yes, on the old fishermen’s path — roughly two and a half kilometres, signposted, about forty minutes downhill and rather longer coming back up.
Is Sa Tuna a sandy beach?
No. Coarse sand, gravel and grey pebbles, continuing underwater. Footwear makes a real difference here.
What is the cave at Sa Tuna?
The Cova de Sant Pau, an eroded grotto at the right-hand end of the cove. It provides the beach’s main shade, and habanera performances are held inside it in summer.
Is parking difficult at Sa Tuna?
Yes. There is no beach car park — only a regulated blue zone at the hamlet entrance and a small covered paid lot, both full by mid-morning in July and August. Roadside parking is ticketed.
Written for general information, not as travel, legal or safety advice. The shore and seabed at Sa Tuna are stone throughout and the cove is exposed to easterly wind, which brings chop and undertow; lifeguard cover is seasonal and does not extend to s’Eixugador or the camí de ronda. Parking in the hamlet is regulated and enforced, and the access road is narrow and blind in places. Habanera performances and restaurant openings are set locally each season. Confirm current details with the Ajuntament de Begur before travelling.
Image Credits
- Header image: Platja de sa Tuna 1 by DagafeSQV, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- In-article image: Begur Sa Tuna 01 JMM by Josemanuel, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
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