Beaches

Located just west of the Marina and in front of the town hall is the marvellous Levante beach. It was awarded with "the Breaking of Architectural Barriers and Attention to Disabled People" by the Foundation of Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE). The promenade that runs alongside it has some very good tapas bars and restaurants and in the summer there is frequently an artesan market in the evenings. 

There are some seats installed in the sea with a shade making an ideal spot for the older generations to relax and cool off. Pedalo boats are also available for hire in this area. First aid and care services are placed in Acessible Points for the people of limited mobility.Lifeguards are present in the summer months.   At the end of the 19th century, this beach became a make-shift shipyard for building fishing boats. At that time 4,100 inhabitants lived in Santa Pola and this beach was their favourite. Tourism, as well as trade and fishing, was flourishing: Elche holidaymakers, La Sirena baths, the refreshment stands near the beach, the Theatre and the Casino tell us about an incipient tourist develpoment

This and Playa Levante are a very popular beaches for the families as they are normally very shallow waters with soft waves lapping the shore. The water is typically cristalline allowing you to watch the fish swim in their schools around your feet. Children and adults alike can play and bathe in these serine waters as though you were at a paddling pool.The beach is long also and has a variety of beach bars and restaurants on the beachside offering some of the best views. 

There is a nautical area for practising windsurfing and padelo boats. First aid and care services are placed in Acessible Points for the people of limited mobility. Lifeguards are present in the summer months.   

At the begining of the 19th century, Santa Pola became a summer resort for the first time. A great number of sheds made of esparto grass and rushes were located in Gran Playa and Playa Lisa. These sheds were most popular for people who spent their holidays here, most of whom came from Elche. The so termed "Baño de las Sirenas" which translates as "Mermaids Bath", was situated in the present harbour, was like a Social Centre for meetings of the richest holidaymakers. 

Heading east from Levante beach you will arrive at the Santiago Bernabeu Coves with all the same services found in an urban beach. In Cala III there is an area for the exclusive use of boats, pedal boats, etc. with an entrance and exit channel to the sea clearly marked by means of buoys.These coves are named after Mr. Santiago Bernabeu (Chairman of Real Madrid for more than three decades), who spent his summer holidays in a house located in the avenue which holds his name. These rocky coves were regenerated in 1990 with sand which was brought from the sea bed close by.

Like Gran Playa beach, the shallow waters offer some of the safest bathing for children and adults alike. Also, it ideally faces the prevailing winds, which makes it popular for water sports such as windsurfing and is why Santa Pola´s Windsurfing Club is based

here. There are refreshment stalls and restaurants available.  Building began in the Gran Playa and Playa Lisa in the sixties.  

This beautiful beach has been awarded a Blue Flag since 1992. It has all the same services found on an urban beach and has some water sport activities available such as kayaking and sail boats. 

On its western limit we find the old salt quay built in 1897. The wagons pulled by animals and loaded with salt were moved along the rails, once in the harbour, the wagons were unloaded into barges (Gabarras) which carried the salt to the ships anchored in the bay.

It has the basic equipment of a non-urban beach for the need to protect environmental features. There is a designated area for practising kitesurfing. 

An interesting historical note, it was from this beach that the majority of the smuggling was carried out after the Civil War.  It is only accessible on foot from the beaches of Pinet or Tamarit.At La Gola beach you will find the quay of the Bonmati salt flats "Brac del Port", which building was requested by Don Alfonso Llorens Ceriola in 1896 to the Ministry of Public Works for the export of the salt produced. 

The beach provides all the same services found in an urban beach and an area designated for pedal boats. It boasts a Blue Flag since 1987.

 Its name comes from the "Varadero" (dry dock)  which is next to it. Previously it was called "Playa de los Ingenieros" because of the engineers who worked in the dry dock and lived in the surrounding area. Moreover, it was the meeting point for the traditional celebration of what is known as "Easter Cake Afternoon".    Every year, in early July, the Tabarca-Santa Pola open-water swim is held; an international sporting event, in which swimmers have to cover a distance of 5,900m (in a straight line).   Departure is from the beach on Tabarca Island, thence to the finish on this beach.  

Santa Pola del Este is a housing development situated between the foothills of the mountains and the sea. Its development began in 1963 which later received the certification of "Centre of National Tourist Interest". It holds a Blue Flag status.

This is a natural beach with basic equipment. A beach bar and an entry and exit channel for boats.

This beach is located in the Cape of Santa Pola, which is a special protection area with a great landscape and environmental value. 

Located in a special protected area, of outstanding natural beauty environment. Santa Pola's Cape, 144m high, is a unique example in Europe of a Messinian coral reef.

The name of these coves dates from the Middle Ages when this area was called "El Port del Cap l'Ajub". 

They are located next to "Bancal de la Arena", which is a small beach with a beach bar and an entry and exit channel for boats. In the vicinity of these coves, the third important marine research centre in Spain "CIMAR" is located. 

The waters of these coves are in what is called a LIC area, Site of Regional Importance. These coves are ideal for snorkeling.   

The Dogs Cove is situated in the cape, in a beautiful and priceless landscape. This is the Ill Cuartel Cove, and a special protected area with a great environmental value.

Pets are allowed to bathe here but must be microchipped and have to be free from parasites. Don't forget the vaccinations card perfectly updated.   

A natural beach with a beach bar.  

It is situated opposite the "Virgen del Rosario Chapel". This beach marks the limit of the Santa Pola municipal area.    

Also known as  Carabassí Dunes this popular beach has fine, golden sand, formed by a system that combines recent, high dunes, golden dunes and pine forests of great ecological and environmental value. The beach pertains to the city of Elche but it is

located the closest to Gran Alacant.  

It has a great amount of parking spaces, it is connected with the sea coast with gangways that run between a network of dunes, from where you can gaze at the vast, unspoilt coastline.

The richness of its marine life and its location near the salt marshes and wetlands of Balsares and Clot de Galvany, with which it forms a unique ecosystem, contribute to its consideration as an area of ecological protection, with its interesting and native flora and fauna.

It has one part catalogued as a free beach suitable for practicing nudism, however on the days when large numbers of people go to the beach you can find bathers of all types, with or without bathing suits.

El Carabassí also has a hammock service, a snack bar, footbaths, toilets and lifeguard vigilance.

With almost three kilometres of fine white sand, the Arenales del Sol beach is one of the most valued on the coast of Alicante, both for the quality of its water and the richness of its marine life. The beach continues on from the dunes of Carabasi beach with a promenade and bordered by frontline apartments until you reach the dunes of El Altet beach. Along the promenade you will find a range of services including some excellent restuarants and bars.

A vast expanse of beach with only a life guard tower, a children's climbing frame and a bus stop has lots of space and is rarely full. Behind the bank of sand dunes there are two car parks available. The beach offers some distant views of the city of Alicante in the background. There are services, bars and restauarants a short walk away in either Los Arenales del Sol or Urbanova. 

The beach has an attractive promenade with frontline apartments and sea view bars and restauarants. There are several areas for volley ball, football, climbing frames and a woodne platform for yoga and similar activities. Also along the beach you will find chirniguito beach bars with sun beds and parasols as well as lifeguards. 

There are lots of streets close by where you have free parking. One interesting novelty is the low flying aircraft that pass over part of the beach which are coming in to land or take off from Alicate-Elche airport. 

This beach is located next to the Salt Lakes Nature Reserve, on the southwest side of the Santa Pola municipal area. There are a variety of cafes and restaurants amongst the traditional beach houses that offer superb views of the coastline.

Close to El Pinet beach can be found teh Bonmati salt flats, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, and the base of the Pinet Watch Tower that signalled either to the Guardamar Castle, the Tamarit Watch Tower or the Fortress-Castle of Santa Pola.