Chetaibi

Chetaibi sits on a headland on the far side of the Edough massif from Annaba, a small port of white houses around a bay, reached by a long road that winds through forest and along a coast of cliffs and inlets. Because the drive is slow and the town is small, it stays quiet outside the July and August peak, and the beaches around it, sandy coves separated by rock, are among the cleaner ones on this stretch. Fishing is the main trade and the catch is landed and eaten locally. Stone was quarried nearby in Roman times and the coast holds caves and offshore rocks used by divers and by fishermen who know them.

History

In Roman times a fairly important town called Tacuata stood here, the start of a road west along the coast past Zacca, today's Cap de Fer, where red porphyry was mined for Rome, and after the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb the Arabs called the place Tekkouch, from the Berber Teccuche. During the siege of Annaba in 1830 a secret flotilla sailed every night from Tekkouch to bring food to the people of the city, and at the end of the 19th century the village was named Herbillon after the French general Émile Herbillon (Wikipedia, Chetaïbi).

Highlights

• A white port town on a headland - the bay and the fishing harbour.
• Sandy coves between rock - the beaches around the town.
• The forest road in - the drive around the Edough massif.
• Local seafood - the catch landed and cooked in the town.

When to go

June to September for swimming; the town is very quiet outside summer and some places close. A day, or overnight given the drive. Weekends in August fill it completely.

Practical notes

The road takes far longer than the distance suggests and is winding throughout. Accommodation is limited and books out in August. Facilities are basic. Public transport is infrequent.

Nearby

The Edough massif rises east; Annaba lies beyond it.

Key facts