The Mar Menor is a coastal lagoon connected by channels, called "Golas", through which water is exchanged with the Mediterranean Sea. Located in the Encañizada area, near the Veneziola site, north of La Manga, the Gola del Charco is, along with the Ventorrillo Gola, one of the two natural channels that are preserved, out of the five that exist in La Manga.

In this channel, as in the Ventorrillo Gola, to take advantage of the migratory movement of some fish such as mullet, sea bream, leerfish, or cutlassfish, elaborate fishing systems made of reeds and nets, called "encañizada", have been installed since arab times, which have given the area its name.

The Gola del Charco, like the rest of the Encañizadas area, has undergone few transformations, except for the islets of Ventorrillo and Torre, which house auxiliary buildings for fishing facilities. The habitat of the area where the Gola del Charco is located is formed by an extensive zone of halophytic vegetarion, dunes, beaches, and accumulations of oceanic Posidonia seaweed. This area becomes flooded when there are the infrequent rains or a storm. It is also the refuge for stilts, avocets, and other birds of great interest and rarity such as the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) and the Red-breasted (Mergus serrator)