Whether you take a ferry, a glass-bottom boat, a Catamaran cruise with barbeque and champagne, or a thrilling power boat ride, you will be amazed by the views that sweep past your eyes as you pass by the craggy, pine-carpeted coastline that is northeast Spain’s Rugged Coast – the Costa Brava.

Every time we visit the Costa Brava, we can’t resist taking an exhilarating power boat trip. Join us!

Stomach somersaulting; heartbeat galloping; toes twitching. Excited and impassioned; eagerly anticipating the heart-in-mouth feeling: thirty minutes of utter bliss.

We are standing at the water’s edge, filtering sand through flip-flopped toes, hokey-kokeying in time with the gentle foaming waves. The vibrant orange boat is approaching: soon we’ll be clambering on and taking our places on one of the sun-warmed seats.

We flash a smile at each other. We know what is about to happen; we are energized by expectant emotions.

Wavering side to side, the boat gently moves outwards into the mouth of the rippling sapphire tinted sea. Slowly, the beachside chatter diminishes and the swash of the waves against the side of the boat takes over. There is a placid breeze fluffing up off the sea, drawing our gaze up to strands of wispy cloud suspended above the powerful stance of the castle walls. There is a moment of serenity, a haze of warmth calming our senses as if to give them a moment of rest before they are exposed to a rush of emotion.

Then, a tremendous roar, and like the jaws of a great lion, the engine opens and our breath is momentarily stolen as first our hearts, then our stomachs and finally the rest of us, are sucked away into the wonder that is a trip on this amazing speedboat.

Our emotions catch up with us as we leap and duck through waves and tackle a zealous sea breeze. We are smiling from ear to ear: we can’t explain why, but we are so happy. It’s a feeling of trepidation meets pleasure: we feel amazing, exhilarated; whilst in awe of our surroundings. The sea is a powerful machine which we learn to fear, but here we are, skimming its surface, with a guilty feeling of domination.

As the speed increases our pulses rise; our knuckles whiten as our grips tighten; now we are tilting on a hairpin bend and squealing our delight and encouragement to our captain, faster, faster we cry.

After a little while our bodies start to move naturally with the rise-and-fall rhythm of the waves; now we are willing the boat to accelerate its course. We are absorbing so much at this moment: whizzing past us are towering cliff faces, age-old and craggy, tenacious pines clinging to them; weathered rock formations jutting into the sea; historic caves where smugglers once secreted their contraband; secluded coves where calm turquoise waters lap the shore and snorklers delight at shoals of slinky fish and pulsating anemones.

We sweep round a furrowed bend, Whaaaheeeehhh!, we are clinging on as we tilt into the water and rapidly approach an opening in the rock – are we going to stop in time?

And then, total silence. The engine cuts to a soft hum and we are cruising into a shadowy cave. We listen to the cool water sloshing against the lower reaches of the chasm. On the craggy walls, shimmering copper and golden hues collide in the funnelled sunlight; a sparkling layer of rich amethyst coloured rock skirts the bottom; deeper into the cave an inner chasm is gulping down the water that is being pushed forward by the boat. 

We are being told a story about the history of the cave. We listen with interest as we are absorbed by tales of smugglers and teased by stories of lovers swimming to hidden beaches deep inside this intriguing cavern. Truth or tale we wonder.

Now we are back outside the cave and our eyes momentarily ache and squint as they adjust to the sunlight. Soon we are off again, making our way over the waves and on to the next delight of the rugged coast.

The wind is like a pair of hands ruffling our hair and the spattering waves are coating our lips in sweet-tasting salt. We turn to each other, laughing, excited. Where are we going next?

A sharp left turn finds us drifting into in a secluded bay. The water is so calm here it feels like we are being carried on the warm breeze. As we are drawn into the clutches of this pretty cove, our senses are stimulated in many ways: our eyes are graced with a kaleidoscope of green to blue and all the shades in between; the sun glints on the glass-like water creating sparks that look like darting fireflies. We hear laughter and idle chat muffled through the gently lapping waves, punctuated by the sound of a popping cork being sucked up into the pine-carpeted cliffs. A charming yacht is moored just off the bay and its immaculately dressed crew are on the deck, attending to a sizzling barbeque. The aroma of freshly caught fish, olive oil and garlic billows intro our nostrils and dances a jig across our taste buds. Now we are hungry, but it is time to leave this charming cove, whose beauty has left us feeling uplifted and serene, and continue our journey along this magical coast.

With a sound like shoes on shingle, the surface of the water is rasped as the boat coasts onwards past gnarled rocks and scoured crevices, all forming their own weathered characters. We all see different things: a long-nosed nobleman with a protruding chin; a fist clenched but for one spindly pointing finger; a great eagle with his wings draped either side, projecting its stocky neck and hooked beak into the water as if drinking from a pond; a dinosaur with its head extending inquisitively like it is foraging for food on the ground.

Soon we reach another bay and the boat is playing dodgems with moored fishing craft and buoys. The sunlight collapses behind the lofty rocks, forcing the water to reflect a different mix of colours. We are immersed in a powerful, concentrated green. The ultra-smooth surface is being sculpted into mounds and tufts so that it looks like a whipped meringue. We slice through the syrupy green water and as the beach draws nearer, the wall of rocks diminishes and the intensity of the green is sucked up by the re-appearing sun, leaving it like a glittering topaz gemstone.

Whilst we scoop up more thrill seekers from this beach, we peer over the edge of the boat and point and ooh and aah as a shoal of shimmering fish slink their way in and out of the bed of copper and amethyst coloured rocks on the bottom. As they move their graceful bodies, the sea weed starts to follow them, until it is hauled back to its suckered mooring on the rock.

Our newcomers take their seats on the boat and hold on tight as the engine revs and the beast takes to the waves once again.

Soon we are soaring out into an open expanse of sea, screaming with delight as our captain expertly slings the boat one way and then another. We’re cruising on the crest of a wave, almost airborne one second then coasting a hair’s breadth from the spume the next. Our sight-seeing tour has sadly come to an end and this is our final treat before we’re brought back to our senses, and the dry land that waved us off thirty minutes earlier.

What a way to see the Rugged Coast!