Is it possible to go to the beach for the day from Granada?
GETTING THERE
PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
If you are using public transport then the easiest thing to do is to get a bus to Salobreña from Granada bus station. There are about 9 buses per day, the return bus fare costs 11.50. Most of the trips take around 1 hour. You can buy ticket on this site http://www.alsa.es It is also possible to get a bus to Nerja or Almuñecar but Salobreña is the nearest good beach.
How to get to and from the center of Granada to the bus station Click here
CAR:
In your own car you have a lot more possibilities. There is a fast highway down towards Motril and it takes about 50 minutes to get to the sea. Motril is not particularly interesting and it is better to go to one of the towns on the Costa Tropical such as Salobreña, Almuñecar, La Herradura or Nerja.
As an alternative to the fast motorway there is a very beautiful winding mountain road called the cabra (the goat) which goes down to Almuñecar. To get onto the road you have to follow the signpost to Otivar or Jete a few minutes out of Granada on the motorway. It is the A4050. A good place to have a drink or something to eat on that road is El Capricho in Otivar.
BEACHES:
Not many of the beaches have fine golden sand, most of the sand is grey grit and there is not much difference in sand quality along the Granada coast.
If you want a nudist beach the best one is Cantarrijan which is between Almuñecar and Nerja on the N340 it also has two good beach bars. (in the summer you might have to park at the top and get a shuttle bus to the beach)
PLACES TO EAT:
(there are probably many more places than I mention here but these are places I have been to myself and liked)
SALOBREÑA:
In the old part of town near to the castle there is a restaurant called "El Peseta" it has a rooftop teraza with good views, simple Spanish food at a good price. A good beach bar is Chiringuito Flores they also do chocolate con churros. The old part of town is an interesting place to wander around.
ALMUÑECAR:
RESTAURANTE AVENIDA Lute y Jesús
An outside restaurant that does excellent fried fish and salad. It is very popular with the locals. In Avenida Europa. In the same stretch of road there is a good Pizza restaurant and some other eating places which look interesting.
Chiringuitos on the sea front.
A chringuito is a beach bar. There are many of them along the beach. Pepe Digame is OK.
TAPAS:
Almuñecar has lots of good tapas bars. There are some especially good ones opposite the sports stadium. El Templo is very good.
PARKING: There is a big free parking place at the top of Almuñecar. It is open all days except for Friday and Sunday. Just park there and walk down. By the way the market on Friday is mainly cheap new stuff. On Sunday there is a flea market similar to a car boot sale. To get to this parking with google maps type in "Arc de Triomphe Paseo Blas Infante." There is a Lidl, Aldi and a Macdonalds opposite and a couple of OK chinese restaurants.
LA HERRADURA
LA GAVIOTA:
Beach bar (chiringito) Typical beach bar with good fish, pleasant waiters and good views of the sea. There are a couple of other good places accross the road from the Gaviota.
There is a windsurfing place on the beach in la Herrdura. You can hire a windsurfer and rent 2 people kayaks by the hour. Google Windsurf La Herradura.
NERJA:
AYO
Playa Burriana.
This restaurant serves Paella and cooks the Paella in massive pans using wood as fuel.
The sand quality on this beach is good.
PLACES TO VISIT:
ALMUÑÉCAR AQUARIUM: (CLOSED AT THE MOMENT)
There are between 2500 – 3000 fish in total, with over 200 different species. There is also a very big tank which has a glass tunnel for viewing sharks etc at close range.
The Almuñécar Aquarium is at the Plaza de Kuwait, 300 metres from the Town Hall and Majuelo Park. At 14 euros a shot many people think it is too expensive, I had a very pleasant couple of hours there, it would he a good place to take kids.
THE NERJA CAVES:
(Cuevas de Nerja) Large underground cavern with stalegtites and stalegnites.
Many places don't speak English. If you want to learn some basics in Spanish click here
The photo below is of la Herradura.
HIKES.
This is a hiker's paradise although it is probably too hot for hiking in June, July, August. Here is a list of walks which you do if you can download and follow GPX tracks. Click Here
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