030 - Oia, O Muino - Spain/Galicia

I had to take out this O Muino article from the previous article that is also about Oia, and that is because both are not really in the same place (there is some walking to do, or better yet, cycling). The town of Oia while it does not “go” deep into the mountains area, it will stay close to the shores so is “long”.

This time I would like to present a camping site that is so beautiful, in more than one way, as you shall see. Let's discover!

Click here to see the map.

030.1 Oia is not far from Baiona, so on sunny weekends I would get my bicycle, camera and water, and pedal to O Muino. I would stop when something would catch my eye and get the camera out. Like this colourful arrangement on a for sale terrain.

030.2 On calm days I would see pretty far into the horizon, however most of the “wildlife” can be resumed in this photo: Seagulls and Cormorants. Oh and these seagulls are pretty smart too, they can get inside a store and steal chips. Even saw a video once of a seagull stealing not just any chips, but a specific one from a row filled with chips of different flavours! The bird even opened the bag with many people filming it :)) How great life is!

030.3 On another day I would see divers in search for oyster shells (how do you think they get the famous Santiago de Compostela Shells?). They have a belt/rope, I think, around their waist, and they swim until they see an oyster. Then if they catch one, they pull on the rope/belt and behind them is a bucket floating on an orange floating device. I suppose once they fill it, they get back to the shore, empty the bucket in the car, and get back to in the ocean, until the trunk is full. I wish I would see more dolphins. It is a rare sight, and they can get pretty close to see the fin out of the water. However when I see them I am , and they don’t really stay so I can take a picture of them (obviously).

030.4 The windmill can be seen from quite a distance, especially if you come by own means (bike, rollers, or on foot), and if you come from Baiona -> then this is the view that you get. I love it, and I love to see the mountains finishing into the ocean.

030.5 Then this weird (almost ugly) looking hotel will great you. We did stop here because it has more choices of drinks (for people who don’t stay at O Muino), plus you can use the toilet. It has a terrace and they serve drinks with chips, no matter if you are checked-in or not.

030.6 And if you think that only the Hotel and the Windmill could catch your eyes… how about a nose-looking-stone on top of a quite big concrete cylinder. This is the entry to the parking (opposite of the hotel, on the direction towards A Guarda).

030.7 However, we are here to talk and show the camping site O Muino.

030.8 I tried a few times to book a little house here, but always full (when I could take vacation from work). Usually people book in advance, sometimes a few years in advance… or they are regulars, so good luck coming here in August on last minute! They have everything here, playgrounds, washing stations for car and clothing, barbecue area and much more.

030.9 Apart from the fact that you have almost all you need in this place, plus you are close to Baiona (more on that later), there is also a “meteorological station”. I loved this feature and I wonder just how accurate it can be. There is a lot of fog, then sunny, then maybe rain, then sunny again, then clear sky, then cloudy, then rain etc. This area of Galicia is very dynamic and is rare that it could rain for weeks like in Northern France.

030.10 The best part of this place is the view. You wake up, and (if there is no fog) you see the ocean, close, just like when living on a small island. And yes you can see the sun setting on the ocean horizon (as seen in previous articles - A Guarda). I bet people who camp here, they get great photos in the morning with the windmill.

030.11 I could not find information about much information about the windmill, except that it was owned by a person in the business of canned fish. He made his house like this, in the shape of a windmill, and I would too (I love these constructions that serve more than one purpose). When he sold the land, it became this camping site and many people actually come here, year after year.

030.12 The part that I don’t like much is that there is no sandy beach. People stay on the rocks or go to Baiona (there are lots of sandy beaches there).

030.13 Now for the best part -> light pollution or almost lack of. The night sky can be really clear during the summer, and is easy to see with naked eye the Milky Way in all its glory. We did that and I will be sharing photos of it in the next article.

Why did we put 1 star to this region?

Just like Mougas park, O Muino does not represent a must see destination from somebody coming from far corners of Europe. Even coming from France just for O Muino/Oia could be expensive.

However, coming for Baiona and A Guarda (both) it is far more interesting choice (for the ancient monuments, medieval history and natural beauty) and so, O Muino sits right between these two locations so now, we definitely recommend making a stop here when taking a journey to A Guarda from Baiona, or vice-versa.

We thank you for reading this article, and we hope you see another one!

MiDe.

Legend source: https://doctrinaumbanda.es.tl/leyenda-de-oia.htm