The beautiful beach of Jalë, (Albania) with the sea of a deep blue, to seem unreal. The beautiful beach of Jalë, with the sea of a deep blue, to seem unreal. Jal (also called Jala or Jalë) is a small beach nestled between steep hills planted with olive trees in a bay protected by the mountains. Smaller than Dhërmi, the sea is calmer and warmer and the sun when it sets hides just behind a mountain ridge that fades into the sea. The road that arrives there first passes through a small valley covered with olive trees and then descends steeply and unpaved to the beach following the edge of the hills that slope down to the sea, occasionally overlooking some tiny coves that can only be reached by boat.
In the sandy open space at the end of the road there are some recent and semi-demolished buildings and a row of wooden kiosks form a small promenade where family-run fish restaurants alternate with some bars and a couple of discos/cocktail bars. On a hill at the bottom stand a couple of four-storey buildings, one of recent construction and the other, elegant and sober, it is the only pre-existing building on the bay and is the former hospital for the elderly generals of the army during the regime of Enver Hoxha. This territory, like many others along this stretch of coast, is owned by the state; during communism military garrisons were stationed there and no civilian could have access to them, except with special permission. Now this building like the one next door built no more than a decade ago has been transformed into a residence for state employees, and the only possibility to stay overnight on the beach is offered by a couple of campsites. You can, like almost everywhere in Albania, camp freely, but we who want a little comfort choose to settle down in the campsite in the center of the beach, behind a semi-destroyed building in an olive grove that climbs towards the hills.
The environment is very youthful, the price per night very cheap. With 1000 lek (10 euro) in addition to the tent – in case one does not have it – the campsite offers breakfast and dinner.
