Spain / Andalusia
Playa del Cañuelo
Playa del Cañuelo is a 620 m-long beach facing south-south-west, 4.8 km west of La Herradura (Andalusia, Spain). The sea averages 23.7 °C in August, its warmest month, and 15.1 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in July–September.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa del Cañuelo
Beach-day index 6.6/10 · Spain median 6.7
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 15.3 °C | 15.1 °C | 15.3 °C | 16.1 °C | 17.7 °C | 20.0 °C | 22.3 °C | 23.7 °C | 21.9 °C | 19.7 °C | 17.3 °C | 16.1 °C |
| High °C | 12° | 13° | 16° | 19° | 23° | 29° | 32° | 32° | 27° | 22° | 16° | 13° |
| Low °C | 4° | 4° | 6° | 9° | 12° | 17° | 20° | 20° | 17° | 13° | 7° | 5° |
| Rain mm | 40 | 43 | 56 | 42 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 47 | 61 | 53 |
| Cloud % | 57 | 55 | 55 | 52 | 41 | 25 | 19 | 23 | 35 | 48 | 58 | 61 |
| Wind m/s | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| Daylight h | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.5 | 11.3 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| Record high/low | 20°/-5° | 23°/-4° | 27°/-2° | 27°/1° | 34°/4° | 36°/9° | 39°/12° | 39°/13° | 38°/11° | 31°/1° | 25°/-0° | 23°/-2° |
| Beach index | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 6.8 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 6.6 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in June–September; August scores 9.4/10 with highs of 32 °C, sea at 23.7 °C and 3 mm of rain.
In August that is 0.5 points above the median of the 2,246 beaches in Spain covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 0.5 °C warmer than the Spain median for August (23.2 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 18.4 °C, cooler than 55% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (61 mm) and July the driest (1 mm); the yearly total is about 400 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.7 hours in December to 14.7 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 07:31 and sets at 21:08 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-west (210°). Open water fills about 42% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in September–April; in mid-December it goes down at 18:00 local time on a bearing of 241°.
Straight out to the south-south-west the next coast is roughly 120 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 40 m deep and 70 m at 3 km, so deep water starts close to shore. Behind the beach the ground is about 128 m above sea level 500 m inland and 190 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 38% shrubland, 34% tree cover and 17% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 42% of that circle.
- Shrub 38%
- Tree 34%
- Grass 17%
- Built 6%
- Bare 6%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 3Restaurants, cafés & bars
- –Public toilets
- –Showers
- 3Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 2Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 2 restaurants and 1 bar.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Nature
- Cerro Caleta peak 750 m E
- Cerro del Águila peak 1.2 km N
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| F.G.L. Airport Granada-Jaén Airport Granada | GRX | 49.4 km | north |
| Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport Málaga | AGP | 63.7 km | west |
| Almería Airport Almería | LEI | 127 km | east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 3 mapped car parks within 1 km.
3 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 53.8K residents); within 30 km there are 29 (about 274.4K).
Reference
Playa del Cañuelo has an article on the ES Wikipedia: Cala del Cañuelo.
Wikidata item Q27237732.
When people look it up
The ES Wikipedia article was read 3,054 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in July (1,065 views), 46.3× the quietest month.
Map and nearby beaches
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Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
- Playa de Nerja5.0 km WCompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 15.3 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w199885773; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2C_30SVF_20250815_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 3.6K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.