Beaches along the costa blanca south Pt1

There are numerous beaches in which you can relax and enjoy the spanish sun along the costa blanca south.

Take a look at a selection of coastal towns along the costa blanca south.

Santa Pola

Santa Pola is a busy town which is best known for its fishing industry, salt lakes that produce salt for use on the roads and more recently, as a great destination for kite surfers.

It has some 13 kilometres of coastline and a modern marina from which you can take a boat trip to the nearby Island of Tabarca. The town boasts a helpful tourist office, a fortress castle, a palm park, an aquarium and an interesting range of cultural and historic museums. There is a daily fish market during the week and a busy street market on a Monday and Saturday morning. There is a marked walking route alongside the rural beaches at the souther end of Santa Pola, and a 7 kilometre promenade which connects all of the beaches in the central area. To the north of Santa Pola the scenic drive to Gran Alacant begins. The road, which is an extremely popular cycling route, hugs the rocky shore line, passing the CIMAR marine research facility and during the summer a number of chill out bars, finishing at the little hermitage.

Guardamar

Guardamar del Segura is renowned for its many kilometres of fine sandy beaches. It has a long high street full of all kinds of shops as well as a busy market every Wednesday morning. There is a helpful tourist office where you can book your seat on the tourist train, a couple of museums, and a large sports centre with indoor and outdoor swimming pools. The marina, which is away from the town, is the start of the Corridor Verde walking and cycling route alongside the Rio Segura. Added to this are two wonderful parks, the Alfonso and the Renia Sofia. The pine tress and sand dunes of the Alfonso Park connect the town to the marina and provide a flat walking and cycling route. The Reina Sofia Park has shady trees, rolling grass hills, man made ponds and many resident squirrels, ducks, terrapins and peacocks! It has an adventure playground area which is floodlit and the nearby children's funfair and night market (both summer only) make for a good evening out.

The inland area of Guardamar is known as the Campo de Guardamar and includes both El Raso and Moncayo urbanisations. El Raso has a commercial centre and a very, very popular and busy market, which is locally known as ‘the Lemon Tree market’ every Sunday morning with over 500 stalls.

La Mata

La Mata, a suburb of Torrevieja, is a traditional seaside village which has an iconic watch tower beside its main square. There is a long high street, a helpful tourist office, a medium sized market every Wednesday morning, a lovely variety of bars, cafes and restaurants and the Molino de Agua Park. The beach is sandy and you can walk along it north to Guardamar or south, via the wooden walkway to Torrevieja.

On the other side of the N332 is the Natural Park of La Mata, an important bird reserve and vineyard! There is a visitors centre, picnic tables, a sign posted wine walking route and many other unmarked but well worn walking and cycling trails.

Torrevieja

Torrevieja is a busy, bustling town that has a lively atmosphere all year round, day and night. There are over 105,000 inhabitants 55% of which are of foreign origin. Torrevieja includes many residential areas which can be grouped together into nine main zones, all of which are well served by local bars, restaurants and shops as well as being highly residential.

Los Balcones and Los Altos

This zone forms the southern boundary with the Orihuela Costa. It has the main Hospital with a 24 hour Accident and Emergency and the wonderful Reina de la Sal Parque which includes free to use sports facilities.

Acequión and Náufragos

This area has the two sandy beaches of Acequión and Náufragos, the rural coves of Cala Ferris, the Parque Dona Sinforosa and the old marina known as the Puerto Deportivo Marina Internacional.

Las Naciones

This is the area around the popular Las Naciones Parque with its man made lakes and islands. The old railway line which is now an urban green way for walking and cycling terminates here at the Estacion Park. The old station buildings have been renovated and house the Ricardo Lafuente Habaneras and the Natural History Museum, whilst the Nativity or Belen Museum can be found near the Park of Nations.

Centro and Cura

These areas are the original heart of Torrevieja and so are packed with amenities including the Town Hall and Tourist Office. The Tourist Train leaves from beside the wooden huts of the Day and Night Market, the Sea and Salt Museum is situated next to the Municipal Theatre and performances are also offered at the Palacio de Musica and the Virgen del Carmen Cultural Centre. The main shopping street runs past the Church Square and there is a long beach front Promenade with the iconic Wave Fountain, the impressive and original Casino building and the permanent Day and Night Market. The more modern Marina Salinas is protected by a magnificent 1.3 km long Pier which stretches out to sea and is floodlit at night. There is also the Cura Beach, the Vistalegria Promenade, the Floating Museums of the Albatros Patrol Boat and the Delfin Submarine, year round Boat Trips and the Summer Funfair. Torrevieja's busy weekly Market occupies five streets every Friday morning and is the largest in the area with space for over 1,000 stalls.

Habaneras

The Habaneras is the location for the shopping mall, the Ozone Entertainment Area with a cinema, bowling alley, crazy golf and restaurants and the summer only Aqualandia Water Park with slides and rides to suit the whole family.

Torreta, El Limonar, La Siesta, El Chaparral and San Luis

These inland residential areas are found on both sides of the CV95 and are well served by many commercial centres. The old railway line runs through here and the Flamingo Water Park is located in La Siesta.

Locas and Calas Blancas

This zone includes the fine sandy beach of Los Locas and the rocky coves of the Calas Blancas. These streets are mainly residential and include a number of commercial centres as well as the Semana Santa museum with the statues that are used during the Easter Parades.

Agua Nuevas

The large municipal sports complex is situated in this residential area. The centre, known as both the Palacio de los Deportes Infanta Cristina and Sports City, includes an Olympic sized indoor heated swimming pool, two seasonal outdoor pools, courts and pitches for all types of sports, a gym, athletics track and the Vicente Garcia Stadium, the home of Torrevieja Football Club with a capacity for 6,000 spectators. All of these facilities can be enjoyed by everyone on a pay per use basis. On the opposite side of the N332 is the imposing Auditorio Internacional which sporadically hosts concerts and has almost 2,000 seats divided between its two concert halls.