Beaches
With 300 days of sunshine a year, the aptly named Costa de la Luz (Coast of Light) offers some of the most beautiful, unspoilt and un-crowded, blue flag beaches in Spain. Here are just a few of our favourites.
Los Caños de Meca
15-minutes from Vejer de la Frontera
Beside the lighthouse of Trafalgar (and facing the spot of Nelson’s famous victory), Los Caños de Meca, one of the largest beaches, is famed for its kitesurfing. Surrounded by forest-covered hills, it also offers great walks. After you’ve spent some time relaxing on its wide golden sands, we’d suggest you sit in the shade of Bar Ohana’s grass umbrellas, sipping drinks, eating great, inexpensive seafood and watching a blaze of colour fill the sky as kitesurfers skim the water and perform amazing acrobatics.
Lunch menu, El Palmar
Kite surfers in Caños de Meca
El Palmar Beach
15-minutes from Vejer de la Frontera
There are no large hotels in El Palmar. Instead, you’ll find miles of soft, golden beaches, a relaxed vibe, and low-key, friendly restaurants and bars. Spend your day surfing or learning to surf at one of the many shore-front surf schools facing the beach. Stay for sundowners and enjoy live music and DJs at many of the bars in the summer months.
Zahora Beach
15-minutes from Vejer de la Frontera
This is an unspoilt beach at the edge of the Parque Natural del Acantilado surrounded by forests. Zahora beach is well known for its great bars and restaurants, often offering live music in the summer evenings. This is a great spot to spend the day. And when the sun begins to set, experience the famous phenomenon, the Rayo Verde (green flash) lighting up the sky.
Conil de la Frontera
20-minutes from Vejer de la Frontera
A small yet lively beach town. In summer, Conil’s seafront is lined with ‘pop up’ tapas bars and restaurants called ‘Chiringuitos’ which are built on the sand and are well worth a visit. The beaches are wide and go on forever and you can spend the day relaxing in the sun, or for a change of scene, you can walk into the old town.
A little further afield
Bolonia Beach
45-minutes from Vejer de la Frontera
A stunning beach on the edge of El Estrecho natural park overlooking the ‘Gran Duna’, Spain’s largest sand dune, which if you are feeling brave, you can surf down from. The beach is not developed except for a couple of pop-up restaurants during the summer. What makes Bolonia extra special is the Baelo Claudia archaeological site, a must-see, beautifully persevered Roman town, only a three-minute drive away.
Valdevaqueros Beach, Tarifa
55-minutes from Vejer de la Frontera
If kitesurfing is what you like to do, you should definitely visit Valdevaqueros beach. Morrocco looks like you could just swim across, but we suggest you take the ferry from Tarifa that takes just over an hour to Tangiers instead. Tarifa is also worth visiting with its cobbled streets, restaurants with pavement tables and its famous surf shops. You can also walk to the Isla de las Palomas and stand at the point at which the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean.