Cabo home and Costa da vela (Hío)

About this heritage

Cabo Home (“Home” in Galician language means “man”) and Costa da Vela are located in the Morrazo peninsula, between Vigo and Pontevedra estuaries. A unique enclave bathed by crystal clear waters and legends of sea monsters.

We are in an area of unquestionable natural value, due to its diversity of flora, its wild species and its great landscape, provided by its capes and cliffs, it forms a unique visual spectacle.

The tour, which can be started in Cangas, will takes us through different wild beaches such as Nerga beach, with its dune complex and calm waters. Barra beach, the nudist beach par excellence in the Rías Baixas, can be accessed by unpaved tracks. It is a sandy area of more than a kilometre that we will leave behind to reach Melide beach, smaller but equally charming.

Once in Cabo Home begins the rocky and abrupt coast called Costa da Vela or Costa de Soavela, a natural area declared a Place of Community Interest (LIC). It is a strip that extends from Punta de Couso to near Nerga. The views are incredible and you can enjoy the immensity of the Donon cliffs of more than150 meters or unbeatable views of the Cíes islands.

The most popular legend has it that most fishermen who survived shipwrecks from strangely sinking ships related to this fact to sharp teeth and a monster. One day the sea monster emerged to threaten to devour Hio´s population, but Oridon (a local warrior) confronted and defeated him thanks to his shield. The defeated monster sank into the sea, although, according to the legend, its barbs were petrified and can now be seen from the cliff.

To learn more

Cabo Home has two lighthouses that can be accessed on foot along any of the paths that run through the area.

Cabo Home´s lighthouse is a slender tower painted in white in contrast to the neighbouring tower of the Punta Robaleira Lighthouse painted in red. It reaches a focal plane of 38 meters above the sea-level and emits flashes every 3 seconds, which as we have already mentioned is visible from 9 miles away.

Very close to this lighthouse (almost a stone´s throw away) we find the Punta Robaleira lighthouse, which reaches a focal plane of 27 meters above the sea-level. Its white and red light of sectors, in groups of 2 flashes every 8 seconds, and range of 11 and 9 miles respectively, mark off the big stones as the La Redonda, the Capetudos and the many rocks that Punta Robaleira gives off.

To reach the Costa da Vela, we have to get to the Cangas City Council, in the western end of the peninsula of O Morrazo (Pontevedra). It has an area of 1.384,81 hectares, of which 1.003 are marine waters. To access it is necessary to take the PO-551 detour between Bueu and Cangas towards Hío or south through Donón.

The peninsula of O Morrazo is a tourist area, where you can find all the leisure options and all the necessary services to enjoy both a long holiday and weekend break.

To know it better

Cangas is a municipality in the province of Pontevedra that belongs to the Morrazo region. It is made up of five parishes: Aldán, Cangas, Coiro, Darbo and Hío.

At the westernmost point of the Morrazo, between Vigo and Pontevedra estuaries, we find the well-known Costa da Vela, which, since ancient times, has provided us spectacular views from cliffs over 150 meters above the sea-level. At the top is O Facho de Donón, a small construction in a Castro´s form (traditional Galician fortress) of the first century B.C, which could have been a sanctuary; that is, a place of worship.

In the Galician-Roman fortress, up to 60 dwellings have been discovered in a walled enclosure. This is the highest central point of the Costa da Vela which offers views over the Rías Baixas with the Altlantic Islands National Park in the foreground.

In the westernmost part of the Morrazo, you will find Cabo Home, with a lighthouse dating from 1853. This construction has a tower of about 17 meters located at 143 meters above the sea-level.