*My first international review on Yelp! (Changing my intn'l loyalty from TA to Yelp, to help build…read morethe Yelp network abroad.) The Paseo Marítimo de la Costilla is an awesome promenade along Playa Costilla in Rota. It is a wide concrete walkway along the beach, permitting bikes, strollers, joggers, dogs, and of course, walkers. It stretches from the old city, downtown, by the marina, all the way to Parque Atlantico (Av. Santiago Guillén Moreno). There are plenty of public restrooms and foot washing stations along the Paseo, to be a great help for beachgoers. Paseo Marítimo de la Costilla connects to the Camino Natural de Rota, which is a network of actual wood boardwalks, covering a continuing path along the coastline, beyond the end of the concrete Paseo. Alltogether, you can walk several miles, almost the entire coastline of Rota. Our hotel was Playa de la Luz, near the Corrales de Rota (Roman fishing corrals), and we were able to walk from it, all the way downtown, via this network of paths. It took about an hour walking, and there were plenty more paths to travel, should you want a great jogging or biking route. There are exits to the streets in town all along the Paseo and the Camino.

Los Corrales de Pesca de Rota are Roman fishing corrals in the intertidal zone off the beach at the…read moreCorrales Park in western Rota. When I call them Roman, they are genuine Roman ruins, not something just named or invented by Romans. When I researched the corrales, there was mention of tours, however, there was no apparent way to sign up for these tours, neither online, nor at the park. I had to take a star off for the lack of signage directing you through the park to the corrales, and for the lack of info about tours. You can, of course, just walk down the beach and stumble upon the corrales, but one would hope this ancient site could be honored with a little more circumstance than that. The Corrales are along the beach, of course, in the water, but there is a park on land, just behind them, officially called Parque la Almadraba (sometimes "Corrales de Rota" on the map), which is a separate venue, for hiking/jogging/dog walking, along the boardwalk trails of the Camino Natural de Rota. Apart from the two didactic signs I posted pictures of (located at the eastern edge of the park), we did not see any other info about the Corrales. The Romans created small walls in the intertidal zone, covering 110ha; they are designed to be exposed at low tide, for harvesting fish and shellfish. They were in use in Rota until the 1950s. The 8 Corrales de Rota are some of the best-preserved examples of this Roman fishing invention. The Corrales were Andalusia's first designated Natural Monument. The marine life that dwells in the Corrales attracts shore birds, and makes the area known for birdwatching as well. Sea life living in or caught by these corrales: - fish, particularly cuttlefish - octopi - sea urchins - shrimp - crabs - (famous) large oysters - barnacles - algae - marine phanerogams - a variety of seaweed - worms - molluscs - white sea bream - conger eels Rota's older traditional houses (with architectural features created to facilitate fish-harvesting) are called "mayeteria," because the biggest fishing harvests are in May. ** If you like Roman ruins, there is a Roman archaeological site called Baelo Claudia, located between Cadiz and Tarifa, which is a 1.5hr drive from Rota. Great for a day trip!

There are no open hours for this historical tower. You can't climb it. It is basically just a…read morepretty place to take a picture. The base of the tower is currently used as an exhibition hall. The tower is all that remains of the former Convent de la Merced (convent of mercy), which was destroyed in an earthquake in 1722. The Convent de la Merced was built on the foundation of the hermitage of Veracruz, once the oldest in Rota, completed in 1620. Nextdoor, the ca.1929 Public Market was built on the remains of the rest of the old convent.

The old and new lighthouses of Rota are within eyeshot of one another…read more The old lighthouse, built in 1910, straddles an arch over Calle Gravina. It is about half as tall as the newer one, and IDK how anyone ever saw it at sea. The new lighthouse, built in 1980, is just down the street, on the Paseo Marítimo. It has a height of 28 meters. You can't climb either lighthouse, they are both basically just landmarks to look at and photograph. They make for neat scenery, and the appropriate nautical touch for the marina across the street, and adjacent beach. There is a very cool webpage of all the lighthouses in Andalucia, this one included. http://www.lighthousesrus.org/showSql.php?page=Med/Andalusia