Jalë is a small coastal village on the Albanian Riviera, roughly halfway between Vlorë and Sarandë, about seven kilometres south of Himarë. The beach here is one of the most beautiful on this stretch of coast — a crescent of white pebbles and clear turquoise water backed by olive groves and scrubby hills.
The village is tiny and the development still modest: a handful of beach bars, a couple of restaurants, and a small shop. That simplicity is part of the appeal. The Albanian Riviera has been changing fast, but Jalë retains more of its quiet character than the busier beaches further north. The water is clean, the setting is dramatic, and in the shoulder months of June and September you may have long stretches of shoreline largely to yourself.
A short drive south brings you to the extraordinary Bay of Porto Palermo and Porto Palermo Castle, an Ottoman fortress on a triangular peninsula once used as a Cold War submarine base. North of Jalë, the village of Borsh sits above the longest beach on the Albanian coast, surrounded by ancient olive groves.