Overview

When we decided to go to the north coast of Spain for our summer holiday this year, I did some internet research to see if there were any accessible beaches. That's how I came across Poniente Beach in the town of Gijon, and I'm pleased to say it exceeded my expectations. Gijon as a whole is welcoming to disabled residents and visitors, with its good pavements and dropped kerbs, and wheelchair and scooter users are a common sight on the streets. Websites tell of Poniente beach's aspiration to be Spain's most accessible beach, and I think they might have done it! It's actually an artificial beach, with sand brought into a small former harbour where stone walls shelter swimmers from the rolling Atlantic waves characteristic of most other beaches in northern Spain. It's safe, clean and popular with local families and Spanish visitors, although I assume pretty much unknown to foreign tourists, as we didn't come across any other non-Spanish people for the entire week we stayed in Gijon. The information on the websites mentioning Poniente beach tended to be rather old and lacking in details and directions, but I found enough recent mentions of accessible boardwalks and amphibious wheelchairs to feel reasonably confident that there would be something there for me. On our first night in Gijon, we headed down to take a look at the beach and see if we could spot anything that looked like a beach wheelchair station. Right away, we found a good promenade and some wooden boardwalks on the sand, but it was hard to see where any beach wheelchairs might be available, and there's no information on websites or signs. However, when my partner came down for another look during the day, he found a thriving beach wheelchair station at the far end of the beach from where we had come in. So here are my directions: if you've arrived at the beach where we did, in the part near the Gijon railway museum, you're pretty much in the middle. Face the water and then look to your right, and you'll see a light-brown hut at the far end of the beach. Then make your way along the promenade, noting that there's a point where you need to drop to a lower level to avoid some steps (there is a sign about this, marked with a wheelchair symbol). Eventually, you'll reach the hut at the end of the promenade. NB Where you DON'T want to be is the concrete structure in the middle of the beach that looks like a lifeguard station - that's not the amphibious wheelchair hut. The other information that I wished the websites had told me was that the opening hours of the beach wheelchair service are 12.00-20.00. When we arrived at the hut, we had a warm welcome from the staff, and the place was humming with activity. There were changing rooms and toilets, and I think both beach wheelchairs and amphibious wheelchairs were on offer, but I only had eyes for the amphibious ones because I really wanted to go into the water. Next to the hut was a sort of gazebo where some disabled people were enjoying the shade, and that's where I left my little scooter and transferred into an amphibious wheelchair. The staff then helped my partner wheel me down the beach's wooden boardwalks and into the water, and then I was off! The staff didn't speak English, but my partner speaks some Spanish and I speak Italian and French, so we were able to communicate reasonably well as they assessed how much support I was likely to need for my swim. Some of the other disabled swimmers borrowed armbands or flotation vests, but I knew from previous experience that I'd be fine with a 'noodle' float, so that's what they gave me. After my swim, we gave the staff a wave and they came back to get me. I had a quick shower near the hut while still in the amphibious wheelchair to get the worst of the salt and sand off, but I didn't get changed at the hut. I popped my towel onto the seat of my scooter, put a beach dress over my swimming costume and went back to my hotel to have a proper wash and change in the accessible bathroom in our room. I came up with this system in Mallorca a couple of years ago, and it works well for me, but it's good when there are accessible showers and changing rooms at the beach too. ORIGINAL REVIEW STARTS HERE When we decided to go to the north coast of Spain for our summer holiday this year, I did some internet research to see if there were any accessible beaches. That's how I came across Poniente Beach in the town of Gijon, and I'm pleased to say it exceeded my expectations. Gijon as a whole is welcoming to disabled residents and visitors, with its good pavements and dropped kerbs, and wheelchair and scooter users are a common sight on the streets. Websites tell of Poniente beach's aspiration to be Spain's most accessible beach, and I think they might have done it! It's actually an artificial beach, with sand brought into a small former harbour where stone walls shelter swimmers from the rolling Atlantic waves characteristic of most other beaches in northern Spain. It's safe, clean and popular with local families and Spanish visitors, although I assume pretty much unknown to foreign tourists, as we didn't come across any other non-Spanish people for the entire week we stayed in Gijon. The information on the websites mentioning Poniente beach tended to be rather old and lacking in details and directions, but I found enough recent mentions of accessible boardwalks and amphibious wheelchairs to feel reasonably confident that there would be something there for me. On our first night in Gijon, we headed down to take a look at the beach and see if we could spot anything that looked like a beach wheelchair station. Right away, we found a good promenade and some wooden boardwalks on the sand, but it was hard to see where any beach wheelchairs might be available, and there's no information on websites or signs. However, when my partner came down for another look during the day, he found a thriving beach wheelchair station at the far end of the beach from where we had come in. So here are my directions: if you've arrived at the beach where we did, in the part near the Gijon railway museum, you're pretty much in the middle. Face the water and then look to your right, and you'll see a light-brown hut at the far end of the beach. Then make your way along the promenade, noting that there's a point where you need to drop to a lower level to avoid some steps (there is a sign about this, marked with a wheelchair symbol). Eventually, you'll reach the hut at the end of the promenade. NB Where you DON'T want to be is the concrete structure in the middle of the beach that looks like a lifeguard station - that's not the amphibious wheelchair hut. The other information that I wished the websites had told me was that the opening hours of the beach wheelchair service are 12.00-20.00. When we arrived at the hut, we had a warm welcome from the staff, and the place was humming with activity. There were changing rooms and toilets, and I think both beach wheelchairs and amphibious wheelchairs were on offer, but I only had eyes for the amphibious ones because I really wanted to go into the water. Next to the hut was a sort of gazebo where some disabled people were enjoying the shade, and that's where I left my little scooter and transferred into an amphibious wheelchair. The staff then helped my partner wheel me down the beach's wooden boardwalks and into the water, and then I was off! The staff didn't speak English, but my partner speaks some Spanish and I speak Italian and French, so we were able to communicate reasonably well as they assessed how much support I was likely to need for my swim. Some of the other disabled swimmers borrowed armbands or flotation vests, but I knew from previous experience that I'd be fine with a 'noodle' float, so that's what they gave me. After my swim, we gave the staff a wave and they came back to get me. I had a quick shower near the hut while still in the amphibious wheelchair to get the worst of the salt and sand off, but I didn't get changed at the hut. I popped my towel onto the seat of my scooter, put a beach dress over my swimming costume and went back to my hotel to have a proper wash and change in the accessible bathroom in our room. I came up with this system in Mallorca a couple of years ago, and it works well for me, but it's good when there are accessible showers and changing rooms at the beach too.

Transport & Parking

I have to say I'm not entirely sure about car parking near the beach wheelchair station, because I came all the way on my scooter from my hotel, but I think it might be possible

Access

Excellent - see my main review

Toilets

I saw some accessible loos but can't vouch for them because I wasn't far from my hotel and didn't need to use them

Staff

They were delightful and very competent - see my main review

Photos