The Cíes archipelago lies twelve nautical miles west of Vigo's main harbour, a three-island Atlantic barrier reef that Roman chroniclers called the Islands of the Gods. Designated a national park in 2002 as part of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia, the Cíes receive fewer than two thousand daily visitors during high season, a strict quota enforced through mandatory preauthorization administered by the Xunta de Galicia. The regulation followed decades of uncontrolled summer traffic that eroded dune systems along Rodas Beach and destabilized seabird colonies on the northern cliffs. The archipelago comprises three granite outcrops—Monteagudo, Do Faro, and San Martiño—linked at low tide by the white sand isthmus of Rodas, a crescent playa that The Guardian named the world's best beach in 2007. The ranking drew global attention but also accelerated the visitor-cap policy. Today the park permits no overnight camping outside the single authorized campground on Monteagudo, and all arrivals by private or commercial vessel must present digital authorization codes scanned at the pier. Ferry crossings from Vigo operate between late March and mid-October, with departures concentrated in the morning window to allow a five-hour island stay before the last return sailing at 1900 hours. The forty-minute passage crosses the Ría de Vigo, a drowned river valley that funnels Atlantic swells and nutrient-rich upwelling currents toward Galicia's mussel platforms. Most commercial operators dock at Rodas pier on the eastern shore of Monteagudo; sailboat charters and private catamarans anchor in the sheltered bay north of the beach. The islands support a resident colony of twelve thousand yellow-legged gulls, along with European shags, Iberian wall lizards, and seasonal populations of razorbills that nest on the western cliffs facing open ocean. Four marked trails cross Monteagudo and Do Faro, ranging from the coastal loop around Figueiras Beach—a designated naturist zone—to the steep ascent of Monte Faro, whose lighthouse sits one hundred eighty metres above sea level and offers sightlines south to the Portuguese border. The park service prohibits fires, amplified music, and removal of shells or marine specimens; rangers patrol daily during summer months.