On 30 July 2011 a restaurant at the back of this cove served its last meal and closed. It had three Michelin stars, it had been called the best restaurant in the world more times than anyone could keep track of, and it turned away far more people than it ever fed. Twelve years later the same building reopened — not as a restaurant, and never again as one, but as a museum. That single fact now governs almost everything practical about visiting Cala Montjoi, including whether you are allowed to drive here at all in August.
The Restaurant That Became a Museum
elBulli1846 opened on 15 June 2023, on the exact site of the old restaurant, and it is now the headquarters of the elBullifoundation. The number in the name does double duty: 1,846 is the count of recipes the restaurant created, and 1846 is the year Auguste Escoffier was born.
It is not a shrine and it is not a food museum in the ordinary sense. Roughly four thousand square metres of indoor and outdoor installations set out the history of elBulli, the creative method behind it, and a long argument about knowledge and innovation that keeps asking you awkward questions — is peeling an apple cooking? The old kitchen and a reconstruction of the dining room are part of the route.
Practical details, because they matter here more than usual. The museum runs a season rather than a year: recent calendars have run from around the start of May to mid-October, Tuesday to Saturday, with exceptions — check the current calendar before you plan anything around it. Buy online: tickets bought at the gate carry a surcharge of €2.50 each. The guide is a free multimedia one you run on your own phone, so bring headphones or buy a pair in the shop.
The Road Closes in Summer. Read This Before You Drive
This is the single most useful thing to know about Cala Montjoi and it is missing from most guides, which still tell you to “arrive early because parking fills up”.
In July and August, vehicle access along the road to Cala Montjoi is prohibited every day of the week between 10:30 and 16:00. Motorbikes and bicycles are exempt. There is a control point roughly halfway between Roses and the cove, at the Mirador de Punta Falconera, and that is where you will be turned around. It is not a question of finding a space; for the best six hours of a summer day, you cannot drive down.
What that leaves you with:
- Arrive before 10:30 or after 16:00 if you are driving, and be prepared for the parking to already be full at the early end.
- Take the seasonal municipal bus that Roses runs between the town and its coves in summer. Check current timetables with the tourist office.
- Come by motorbike or bicycle, which are exempt from the restriction. The museum parks both free of charge.
- Come by boat, rent a buoy in the cove and walk up from the sand.
- Walk the camí de ronda from Roses — the long way, the good way, and completely unaffected by any of this.
Visitors with a museum booking are a separate case: elBulli1846 has its own private car park, reservable when you buy the ticket, and ticket holders are issued a document that gets a vehicle through the control point on the day of the booking. Motorbikes, bicycles and vehicles carrying people with severe disabilities park free, subject to availability.
What the Cove Is Like
Sources disagree on the measurements — anywhere from about 270 to 400 metres of shoreline — which tells you the sand moves. The shore is coarse sand mixed with pebbles, and the notable feature is underwater: the bottom drops away fast. That is excellent for anchoring a boat and for swimming properly a few strokes out, and it deserves a moment’s thought if you are a nervous swimmer or have small children.
The setting is a wide bay inside the Cap de Creus natural park, closed in by three hills and protected to the north by the bulk of Cap Norfeu, which takes the worst of the northerly wind out of it. That shelter is why the water is usually calm and clear here on days when the exposed coast north of the headland is unusable. The cove has held EMAS and ISO 14001 environmental certification since 2009.
Part of the beach has long been used informally by nudists alongside everyone else. It is custom rather than official designation, and with a bay this size it bothers nobody.
Diving, Kayaking and Anchoring
The Montjoi Diving Center operates from the campsite at the beach and runs courses and guided dives around the bay, including out to the wreck of the Phedon, the best-known dive site on this part of the coast. For anyone without a tank, the sheltered water and quick drop-off make for good snorkelling close in, and kayaks and paddleboards are rented on the sand.
If you are arriving under your own keel: there are 31 mooring buoys, some kept for visiting boats and bookable through the Port Roses app, with a maximum permitted length of 11.3 metres. Watch for the shallow reef off Punta Farrera at the eastern edge of the cove — it is hard to spot and it is exactly where a boat cutting the corner would go.
Eating and Sleeping at Montjoi
There is a certain comedy in eating at Cala Montjoi now: the Xiringuito Cala Montjoi at the entrance to the beach is a good beach restaurant, and it stands a few hundred metres from the kitchen that spent two decades being the most sought-after reservation on earth. Book it in season if you can. Otherwise the nearest alternatives are the chiringuito at Cala Joncols and the one at La Pelosa, and packing a cool bag remains the reliable option.
To stay at the cove itself there is one address: the Ciudad de Vacaciones Cala Montjoi holiday village and campsite at the entrance to the beach, which also houses the dive centre and the chiringuito. Staying there sidesteps the road restriction entirely, which in July and August is worth real money. Otherwise it is Roses town, with the full range of hotels and apartments and easier access to the rest of Cap de Creus — including Cala l’Almadrava, the calmer, more developed cove on the near side of town.
When to Go
At most beaches the question is when. Here it is how you arrive, and the answer changes with the month. From September to June you drive down, park and think no more about it. In July and August the road shuts to cars for the middle of the day and the whole visit has to be built around that — early, late, bus, bike, boat or on foot.
Which makes June and September the obvious answer: warm water, no restriction, the museum open, the dive centre running and the campsite full but not overflowing. May and October are quieter still and good for a diving course, though the sea is cooler. In winter the cove is beautiful, empty and closed for everything else.
For how Montjoi compares with the rest of the region, see our Costa Brava beach rankings.
Practical Tips
- Check the July–August driving ban first. No cars on the road down between 10:30 and 16:00; the control point is at the Mirador de Punta Falconera.
- Book museum tickets online. Buying at the gate adds €2.50 per ticket, and the parking space is reserved at the same time.
- Bring headphones. The museum guide runs on your own phone.
- Mind the drop-off. The seabed falls away quickly close to shore.
- Check the chart before anchoring. There is a shallow reef off Punta Farrera at the east side of the bay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you visit elBulli?
Yes — as a museum, not a restaurant. elBulli1846 opened on the original site in June 2023 and runs a seasonal calendar, typically from spring to mid-October, Tuesday to Saturday. It will not operate as a restaurant again.
Can you drive to Cala Montjoi in August?
Not between 10:30 and 16:00. Vehicle access is prohibited on that stretch of road every day in July and August during those hours, with motorbikes and bicycles exempt. Museum ticket holders are issued a pass valid for their booking day.
Is Montjoi good for diving?
Yes. There is a dive centre at the beach, the water is sheltered and clear, and the Phedon wreck is the standout site nearby.
Can you moor a boat there?
There are 31 buoys, some available to visiting boats through the Port Roses app, with a maximum boat length of 11.3 metres.
Written for general information, not as travel, legal or safety advice. The summer driving restriction on the Cala Montjoi road, the museum’s opening calendar and prices, mooring rules and the seasonal bus timetable are all set locally and change from year to year — confirm each of them directly before travelling. The seabed shelves steeply and lifeguard cover is seasonal. Consult nautical charts before anchoring; there is an unmarked shallow reef near Punta Farrera. Check current details with the Ajuntament de Roses and with elBulli1846.
Image Credits
- Header image: Cala Montjoi by Alberto-g-rovi, licensed under CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- In-article image: ElBulli Ferran Adrià by Gordito1869, licensed under CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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