The Acantilados de Maro-Cerro Gordo protected coastline stretches 12 kilometers between Nerja and La Herradura, its Jurassic limestone cliffs plunging 75 meters into the Alboran Sea. Designated a Natural Area in 1989, this western edge of the Axarquía comarca harbors 14 sea caves, underwater meadows of Posidonia oceanica, and the Maro Waterfall — a 15-meter cascade that empties onto a pebble beach accessible only by water. The cliffs themselves are fossil-rich dolomite, remnants of the Tethys Sea that once covered southern Iberia 150 million years ago. Geologists trace fault lines through the rock face where tectonic pressure buckled the seabed into vertical striations, now home to nesting Eleonora's falcons and the endangered Mediterranean monk seal. Today, the natural park draws paddlers for its sheltered coves and visibility that regularly exceeds 20 meters. Maro kayak rental operations launch from Playa de Maro, a 500-meter crescent of dark sand flanked by the Río de la Miel estuary and the park's eastern boundary marker. Morning currents flow west to east, favoring routes toward Cala del Pino and Cala Barranco de Maro, where snorkelers encounter damselfish, gilt-head bream, and octopus among submerged boulders. The waterfall itself sits 1.8 kilometers east of the launch point, fed by an underground aquifer that maintains flow even through Andalusia's summer drought. Its freshwater plume creates a brackish lens visible from the surface, a pale green halo against the deeper cobalt offshore. Guided maro kayak rental tours typically trace a three-hour circuit: eastward paddle to the waterfall, snorkel stop at Cala de las Doncellas, return via the sea caves near Cañuelo. Self-guided rentals permit exploration at will, though the park authority restricts access within 200 meters of cliff faces during falcon nesting season, April through September. Rental operators stock sit-on-top models — stable in the low swell common to this microclimate, where the Sierra de Almijara range blocks northerly winds and the Alboran gyre moderates summer temperatures. The coastline remains navigable year-round, though winter swells occasionally close the eastern coves. By late morning, thermal winds rise off the cliffs, creating a westerly chop that tests less experienced paddlers. Most launches occur between 10:00 and 11:00, when the sea lies flat and the sun angle illuminates the caves' interior chambers.