The south of Spain is not just about the beach! White villages, beautiful mountains, rivers with waterfalls.. so many things to see.
There are lots of beautiful rivers with natural swimming pools; lots of them are only accessible if you want to hike a bit with your feet in the river, sometimes they even require swimming a stretch to reach them!
Some examples are Barranco Blanco near Alhaurin, the Chillar river near Nerja, Charcalo Canalon near Istan, the Guadalmin river near Benhavis, and the easiest accesible we have found so far Cueva del Gato near Ronda.
Cueva del Gato near Ronda is a very accessible natural pool and waterfall. You can reach it by car, if you put in the GPS "Hotel Cueva del Gato" you will find it!
Be sure to bring your bathing suit and towel, and also some sandals or trainers that can get wet so you can walk along the rocky riverbed. The water is stunningly blue and clean, and amazingly cold! This is an excellent place to cool off on a summer day. Go early in the day and during the week, to avoid the crowds of locals who love to come to this cool place with their family.
You can enter for free but if you want to stay for an hour or two it costs 2 euros and they have lifeguards and maintain the area which is nice.
After your swim, we recommend lunch at across the street.. Very friendly country place with an excellent 3 course lunch with drinks included for 9,50! To find the parking lot, tap here to get the google maps link.