| BEACHES
All of the local beaches are great, but they do not provide any kind of
loungers or shade etc, so use the beach umbrellas which are in the cave.
It gets very hot and sometimes windy. They tend to get busy at weekends
when the locals turn out in force, so midweek is better. Equally Sunday
is a lovely quiet day in town.
Our local beach is El Palmar, sign-posted at the roundabout
at the bottom of the hill. Splendidly natural, never busy, a little unkempt,
great fun. A good restaurant.
If you like your beaches even wilder then Cabo de Trafalgar
(yes that battle) is amazing. Head towards El Palmar, then it's signposted.
Stop and park near the lighthouse and walk over the dunes. There is nothing
here but sand and sea.
Just further along is the beach of Zahora, sign-posted
along a winding dirt track. The sea here is calmer, so it’s great
for families and there’s lots of places to eat and drink.
A little further along the same road is Canos de Meca,
which is the hip young things beach. It's very busy in summer with near
naked neo-hippies. They have a little flea market and a brilliant Moroccan
style bar in a beduoin tent in the summer which is wonderful at sunset.
Barbate is the most developed local beach, turn left
on the N340 direction Antequera, then it's signposted. It's about 12 minutes
in total. It's a noisy, enjoyable Spanish resort, beach volleyball, kids
amusements. It's really good at night with a busy lazy promenade full
of kids. But don’t expect beautiful architecture.
Conil about 15 minutes in the direction Cadiz is the biggest
and most expansive beach, again great for kids with a little train and
bouncy castle in high season but also excellent restaurants, though it
can get very crowded in August.
Tarifa is the windsurf beach if that’s your sport.
Also the amazing Dunes (Las Dunas) nearby, accessed by a side road about
10 minutes in the direction of Cadiz are fantastic, like being in the
Sahara. Not so good on very windy days.
Zahara de los Atunes
A very large beach which extends from an old town to a new built up area
of hotels. The beach is vast, a little bit hippy, and in the high season,
you can get beds etc. Great for the kids, as the bars have lots of things
for them to do. Also lots of restaurants to eat there in the summer. When
you first drive into Zahara de los Atunes, there is a big 4 star hotel,
which has a good restaurant. To get to Zahara, the best route is through
the road to Barbate, but at the start of Barbate, there is a roundabout
which directs you to Zahara, The sea views are great, and the beaches
unspoilt on the route.
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