A cloud cover from the sea that stops time for a moment
You're sitting on the beach, coffee in hand, sun on your skin. And then suddenly: a white wall. Silently it comes rolling across the water. As if someone pulls a cloud cover from sea to land. Within minutes you are in another world. The palm trees are just visible, the village disappears. And the strange thing is - from our terrace, higher up the mountain, we just look over it. Blue, sunshine, everything peaceful. Only down below it suddenly looks like autumn.
We call it here: sea fog. And while it has nothing to do with rain, it does feel like the air suddenly becomes heavy.
Sea fog occurs when warm, moist air flows over cool seawater. The air cools, the moisture condenses - and fog forms. This is called advection fog, a typical coastal phenomenon. You see it especially when there is little wind and the temperature difference between sea and air is large.
But it doesn't just hit all the time. In 2023 and 2024, we saw it quite often - especially in the spring. But this year, 2025, is different. It is cooler than previous years, and there was more rain in the first few months. As a result, there seems to be less warm air moving over the cold seawater - and thus less fog forming.
Not necessarily. Sea fog occurs worldwide: in Holland, in England, over the Norwegian fjords. But the effect in La Herradura is especially striking because of the elevation. The bay is deep and surrounded by hills, so you can see the fog coming in from above. Sometimes the sea seems to hide itself for a moment.
In Torrox or Málaga? Probably yes, but less spectacular. La Herradura is smaller, more sheltered. Here it feels like a scene from a movie. And the best part is: it rarely lasts long. Sometimes within an hour it's clear again.
Sea fog puts everything on hold. No sight, no noise, no sense of time. Just that white mass sliding slowly inland. And then, as if someone pressed a button, it's gone again. The sun returns. The world moves on. As if it never happened.
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English