The Cova Tallada: the sea cave that is really a quarry

Almost every guide calls the Cova Tallada a sea cave. That is only half true. The cave is at sea level, but half the space was taken out by people: for centuries they sawed blocks of stone from these walls and shipped them out by boat. That is where the name comes from, because tallada means cut. It changes what you are looking at once you are inside. Below: what actually happened here, how to arrange the compulsory permit, which two routes exist, and when you should stay away.

What the Cova Tallada actually is

The Cova Tallada sits at the foot of the Montgó, in the coastal cliff between Dénia and Xàbia, right on the boundary between the two municipalities. The floor is at sea level. The water runs in and out.

What most descriptions skip: this is not an ordinary cave. There was a natural hollow, and stonecutters enlarged it into what you find today. The straight walls, the angular chambers and the flat ceilings are not an accident. They were sawn.

The stone is called tosca: a soft, porous rock you can cut with hand tools and that hardens in the air. Exactly the material you build with when you have no heavy transport but you do have a boat.

Inside there are several chambers, arches looking out to sea, and pools of seawater on the floor. This is not a dripstone cave. There are no stalactites and there is no lighting.

The quarry: what came out, and where it went

This is the best part of a visit and almost nobody points it out.

In the flooded chamber, the room often called the salt lake, the floor lies under a layer of clear water. Through that water you see a grid of straight grooves. Those are not cracks. Those are the saw cuts along which blocks were freed, and in some places the block was taken and in others it was not.

So you are not standing in a cave but in a workshop that stopped centuries ago.

Where the stone went. According to local sources, stone from this wall went into the castle of Dénia, into the fortified church of Sant Bertomeu in Xàbia and into the windmills on Cap de Sant Antoni. The blocks travelled by sea, because overland from here it would have been hopeless.

How old. There is evidence of quarrying from the sixteenth century onwards. Oil lamps from the eleventh and twelfth centuries have also been found, which means people were inside earlier, though not necessarily that they were cutting stone then.

And it is said that Philip III visited in 1599 and that an inscription in the rock confirms it. The inscription exists, but it is hard to find and we have seen no source that pins down the reading. See the section on what we do not know.

Booking: the rules, and why the dates move every year

This is where people come unstuck. Without a permit you stand at the checkpoint for nothing.

Access is regulated by the Generalitat Valenciana, under Order 7/2020 and a resolution of 27 April 2023. The rules do not apply all year, but in blocks around Easter, the May holidays and the summer.

For 2026 those are: 28 March to 13 April, 28 April to 5 May, and 15 June to 15 October. Outside those periods no permit is needed.

Note that the dates shift from year to year, because they hang off Easter. Copying these dates blindly next year will go wrong. Check them on the park page before you drive.

The conditions, briefly:

One booking covers up to five people. Larger groups book more than once.
You can only book ten days ahead, not earlier.
You may stay in the cave for a maximum of ninety minutes, counted from the time on your permit.
It is free.
Bring your permit, on paper or on your phone, plus photo ID.

It applies by sea too. The booking requirement is not just for walkers. Arrive by kayak or paddleboard and you need one as well. Go with a licensed operator and they handle it.

The route from Les Rotes, the usual way

Les Rotes is the rocky shore south of Dénia, about six kilometres out of the centre. That is where the normal path starts.

You drive to the end of the road through the barranc and park there. In the busy months the last street is closed and you park at the designated spot further back. Expect that not to be next to the entrance.

The numbers: roughly three kilometres round trip and about forty minutes each way. Moderate. This is not a day out, but it is not a beach stroll either.

The path runs along the coastal cliff and drops down to the cave at the end. That last stretch is the hard part. Chains are anchored into the rock and there is a rope at the descent. The stone there is slippery from the damp and you need your hands.

So: no heavy bag, nothing loose in your hands, and shoes with a real sole. Flip-flops here are the start of an accident.

On the way you pass the Torre del Gerro, the watchtower in the photo above, which is worth the climb even without the cave. More routes in this corner are in our piece on walking in Jávea.

The route from Xàbia, and why we advise against it

You can also come from the other side, from La Plana on the Xàbia side, with the port as the starting point.

That route is longer and harder, and locally it is considered dangerous. It runs high across the plateau and then drops steeply. In summer it is also unshaded, and that is no detail when you are walking on exposed limestone at thirty degrees.

If you want to see the cave: take Les Rotes. The route from Xàbia is for people whose aim is the walk itself, who are properly equipped and who start early.

By kayak or paddleboard

The third way is over the water, and for some groups it is the best one.

You paddle along the coast and enter the cave from the sea, with no descent and no chains. With children that is a great deal more sensible than scrambling over rocks.

Operators run guided trips from Dénia and from Xàbia. They arrange the permit, the kit and the judgement call about the sea, and that last one is the point.

Going by kayak on your own is possible too, but then you book your own permit and make your own call about whether the sea allows it. See the next section.

The sea decides, not your diary

This is the warning that gets buried in the middle of most articles, and it is the most important one.

The cave is at sea level. Only go when the sea is calm. In a swell and in a storm you should not be here: water comes into the entrance, the rocks at the descent turn slick and wet, and the way back is the same rock you came over.

So look a few days ahead at wind and wave height, not just at whether it will stay dry. A sunny day after three days of easterly wind is not a good day.

In winter access is harder for the same reason: higher water and more swell. That is also exactly the period when you do not need a permit, so those two things pull against each other.

And something practical: there is no mobile signal and there is no lifeguard. If something happens it is 112, and somebody has to get back up the path first.

What to bring

Short list, because it genuinely matters.

A torch or a head torch. The back of the cave is dark and there is no lighting. Your phone works, but then your hands are not free.

Shoes with grip. No flip-flops, no smooth soles.

Plenty of water. There is nothing to buy on the way.

As little luggage as possible. You climb with your hands.

Your permit and photo ID, in the periods when they are required.

And watch for jellyfish if you swim near the entrance. That is normal here, not an exception. What there is to see underwater we covered separately in our piece on snorkelling and diving in the Marina Alta.

What we do not know for certain

Honest about the edges of this story, because the sources diverge here.

The maximum number of visitors. The figure that circulates everywhere is seventy-one people at a time. That comes from a report in 2020. We have seen no current publication confirming that number for 2026.

The exact dates each year. Different sites give different periods, and at least one of them has not updated its years. Take the park page as the source, not a blog.

What kind of stone tosca is. One source calls it sandstone from fossilised dunes, another limestone. Both describe the same soft, sawable rock, but the term differs.

Philip III in 1599. This appears in nearly every description, always as “it is said”. The inscription exists, the reading we have not verified.

The submarines. A story goes around that the cave sheltered submarines in the Second World War. We found no source for it at all. Good story, nothing more.

Frequently asked questions

Do you have to book for the Cova Tallada? In certain periods, yes. In 2026 from 28 March to 13 April, from 28 April to 5 May and from 15 June to 15 October.

What does it cost? Nothing. The permit is free.

How many people per booking? Five at most.

How far ahead can you book? Ten days, not earlier.

How long can you stay inside? Ninety minutes from the time on your permit.

How long is the walk? About three kilometres round trip, roughly forty minutes each way from Les Rotes.

Is it suitable for children? Only if they are sure-footed on slippery rock. By kayak with a guided operator is a lot more sensible.

Do you need a torch? Yes, the back is dark.

Can you swim there? There are pools and there is water at the entrance, but it is not a swimming pool and there are jellyfish.

When should you not go? In a swell, in a storm, and in summer in the middle of the day.

About the authorMilo Schuijt

Milo Schuijt is an entrepreneur and DJ on the Costa Blanca. He writes about the places where he lives, works and plays: from beach bars to the housing market.