Illa de Arousa Causeway & Salt Marshes
Just 20 minutes from O Grove, the Illa de Arousa is the only inhabited island in the Rías Baixas connected to the mainland by road — a narrow causeway that skims the surface of the ría and delivers you to a quiet world of fishing villages, eucalyptus forests and some of Galicia's least-visited salt marshes. Most tourists drive straight past the turn-off; don't.
The Causeway & Village
The 1.6 km causeway offers dizzying close-up views of the mussel-farming bateas (floating rafts) on both sides — you can pull over at the small lay-by halfway across and watch the boats tending their lines in the early morning.
The island's main village, also called Illa de Arousa, is a working fishing community with a modest but charming waterfront promenade, a handful of excellent pulperías and a fish-auction house (lonja) where you can watch the afternoon catch being sold if you arrive around 5 pm.
The Nature Reserve & Beaches
The southern tip of the island is protected as a natural area (Complexo Intermareal Umia-O Grove) and shelters tidal flats, reed beds and salt marshes that host flamingos, spoonbills and little egrets — bring binoculars and walk the short boardwalk trail from the car park at Punta Cabaliños.
The island has several small, calm beaches — Praia de Area dos Cans and Praia de Xufre are the most sheltered — ideal for families wanting flat, warm water away from the Atlantic swell of A Lanzada.
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