Where it is –

The house is in a small ‘urbanizacion’ or development called La Marina– it is on the plains slightly up from the coast – about 5 mins drive (or 20 mins cycle) from the nearest beach.

La Marina  is situated half way between the towns of Guardamar and Santa Pola and is about 20 minutes drive south of Alicante airport. Alicante has some beautiful old buildings along its seafront.

The urbanizacion is very mixed with small and large houses and lots of different nationalities – about half of the residents live there full time (most of these are retired) and the rest are holiday homes for both Spanish and other nationalities.

This is one of my favourite views over to the mountains, the sunsets are amazing!

Therefore apart from the summer holidays (when lots of Spanish people come to the area) it is a pretty quiet place. As well as English people there are Spanish, Dutch, German and Swedish people there which means that there is a good mix of people and it does not feel like Costa del Bognor! It also means that there is lots of different food to try in the supermarkets and restaurants.

What is on La Marina –

La Marina itself has plenty of supermarkets, bars and shops as well as two public swimming pools (essential in the summer as our house does not have a pool!). This is the nearest pool to our house about 5 mins walk away.

There are also doctors, dentists, vets etc as you would expect in a residential area.

The house –

The house has one bedroom and one person can sleep on the sofa. We spend a lot of time on the terrace enjoying the sun and the view, you can just see the sea in the distance past the neighbour’s houses !

There is a bathroom with (small) bath and shower as well as toilet (obviously).

The house is well stocked with cutlery, crockery and cooking equipment as well as bedding and towels (including beach and swimming towels) so visitors just have to bring their personal belongings.

There are also one bike at the house and bike hire is available locally if you need more bikes.

There is also internet access and there are a few books, cards and dominoes if you need entertaining in the evenings (not that you will!).

What you can do while you are there –

This really depends what you are into and when you come. For the sun worshippers and summer visitors this place is very hot in June, July and August so during the day the beach or the pool is definitely the preferred option.

In the evening when it cools down (a little!) there are lots of bars and restaurants to visit on La Marina or if you fancy travelling the nearby towns all have beautiful seafronts, marinas, parks, bars and street markets to wander round, eat and drink.

The Spanish tend to close their main businesses (apart from supermarkets) during the day from 2-5 which means that all the shops open again at 5pm till 8pm.

If you come in the cooler months there is fabulous walking and cycling – there are some great short cycle routes around La Marina and for those who don’t like hills there are lots of bits that are on the flat!

There are lots of opportunities for walking, cycling and hiking further out as well, with some good off road trails around. The urbanisation is surrounded by farmland and there are great cycle routes along main roads as well.

All of the Spanish roads are quiet and there is very little traffic but there are also some good off road routes through the local scrub. La Marina is surrounded by mountains so you are never far away from fabulous countryside to go and explore. Particularly good are the mountains around Murcia.

Santa Pola is famous for windsurfing and for nature lovers there are lots of ‘salinas’ or salt lakes all around the area where birds come to eat – the massed ranks of flamingos becoming pinker as they feed are very special to see.

After all the exercise if you need some R and R there are two fabulous spas at Archenna and Fortuna about an hour away. The spa at Archenna has recently been extended and for £10 you can have 3 hours wallowing in bubble pools, rapids, massage jets in water that is naturally 37 degrees – bliss! The spas themselves are beautiful to visit – they date from Roman times and have now been developed into elegant hotel complexes so there are gardens to wander round and places to eat.

There is also a local spa complex at La Marina International, near the beach about 10 minutes drive away. That also has a great children’s pool complex. Spa prices are 20 euros for a 2 hour session.

If you are more into culture then there are churches, old towns and castles galore. Spain is full of the most marvellous architecture and especially if you go inland rather than to the coast you find lots of beautiful towns, not that old Alicante isn’t lovely. Altea, Cartegena, and Calpe are well worth a visit).

There are two local companies who offer coach tours with pick ups from the urbanisation if you don’t hire a car. Dave’s Coaches and  Rosa Tours both offer trips to local cites, waterfalls and mountain villages for between 15 and 20 euros per person.

Elche (as well as being good for shoes and shopping) is famous for having the most palm trees in Europe – celebrated in a park called El Palmeral which is a UNESCO World Heritage site – while Orihuela has four churches and a cathedral.

Murcia is a lovely town on the river about half an hour away that has a wonderful cathedral square with lots of cafes where you can watch the world go by! The pictures below show Murcia and Orihuela cathedrals.

Festivals here are very popular – well worth a visit is the biggest Moors and Christians one which takes place in the mountains at Alcoy (about 2 hours drive away) over 3 days around St George’s Day. There are also lots of other smaller ones – the Spanish have particularly excellent religious festivals so if you are into icons and ecclesiastical embroidery (as I am) you will be in heaven.

If you come with kids as well as pools and beach there are a few water parks around at Torrevieja, Elche and outskirts of Benidorm that have slides and thrill rides.

Also well worth a visit is Mundomar – on the outskirts of Benidorm again – which is a mini Seaworld with excellent dolphin and seal shows. The park is next door to the excellent Aqualandia water park lots to do from thrill rides to mega jacuzzi pools! This is only open during the peak season as is Terra Mitica near there which is a theme park with rollercoasters. The coach companies do trips to these during the summer as well.

There is also a small wildlife park at Elche and all of the Spanish town parks and beaches have play areas – you can always find a climbing frame when you need one! Spain is a very family friendly country and there are lots of facilities here.

One of our favourite things to do when the kids were little was to go and watch the catch being unloaded at the docks in Santa Pola – this takes place weekdays at about 4.30 – 5pm and is fascinating as the kids loved to see all the fish and octopus that the boats have caught.

Another nice activity for all ages is to take a boat ride from Santa Pola to the island of Tabarca– it takes about 30 mins to get there and journeys there and back are very regular.

It is a small island but has lots of rocky coves to explore , a cute old town and lovely bars and restaurants on the beach. The views from the boat are superb as well as you get to see all the mountains behind Alicante.

Shoe shopping is a feature of this area as there are lots of manufacturers here and Spanish shoes are absolutely gorgeous – try nearby Elche or Alicante for the best shops.

Shopping generally is a big hit here – all of the local towns have very good markets (we particularly like the one at Santa Pola on Saturday mornings) and there is a smaller market in La Marina on Thurs and Sun mornings. Bargains are handbags, shoes, jewellery and clothing as well as lovely household linens (tablecloths, voile, bedspreads etc.)

How to get there and getting around when you are there –

We normally fly into Alicante airport –  flights with Jet 2 from Leeds/Bradford and Manchester airports or with Easy Jet from Manchester. Monarch and Ryan Air also do flights to Alicante so it just a case of shopping around for the best bargains. You can also fly into Murcia airport which is a little bit further away. If you want to rent a car you can do so from Alicante airport – one of the local car hire companies is Sol Mar which seem to do the best deals.

If you want to hire a car you can go further afield but if you just want a quiet week there in the summer you can do without a car – there are hourly buses to and from the beach in the summer, and buses to all local towns from the urbanization as well as taxi companies operating in La Marina (including English speaking ones.)

All in all it is a lovely place for a holiday with plenty to see and do.