The coastal strip between the mouth of the Neiva River and Apulia, with a length of 18 kilometers, constitutes an ecosystem of rare importance, dominated by a stretch of sandy beach and primary and secondary dunes of great instability and at risk of erosion. The estuaries of the Neiva and Cavado rivers, as well as the pine forests and agricultural/rural areas, have just made up this protected landscape. In the rear, maritime pines protect much of the dune extension.

When it comes to its mouth, in lovely Esposende, the Cávado river forms almost a tidal stream. It leaves 130 km behind, since the Larouco Hill. In the ocean, by the mouth, there is a group of rocks named Cavalos de Fão (Horses of Fão). By the mouth of the Cávado river there is an old lighthouse and its house.