It might be September but visitors can still enjoy great summer weather and diverse outdoor leisure activities on Murcia’s popular Costa Cálida.
Covering the Mar Menor saltwater lagoon and such picturesque Mediterranean seaside tourist resorts as Mazarrón and Águilas, the Murcia region is a veritable paradise for lovers of the sea and watersports – both on and under the water. In short, as tourism authorities note, “everything tourists need to make a splash again this September”.
September is still considered summer on the Costa Cálida, so British and other travellers can enjoy their holidays outside the customary “high season”, with warm weather and fewer tourists than in August. The Costa Cálida has more than 300 days of sunshine a year, and extends along 250 kilometres of coastline, coves and beaches.
The region’s superb year-round climate, combined with calm and shallow conditions, make the Costa Cálida especially ideal for children. “All can be enjoyed safe in the knowledge there is also a wide choice of top accommodation and myriad options for dining out – making it the perfect family holiday destination.”
Murcia’s inland sea, the Mar Menor, offers vast expanses of water for watersports, including sailing, canoeing, windsurfing, kite surfing, speed boating and stand-up paddle boarding.
Meanwhile, down the coast at Mazarrón and Águilas, visitors can enjoy activities on top of the waves as well as underneath, with superb diving spots offering rocky sea bottoms and spectacular underwater caves and grottos.
At Mazarrón, the marina compries 200 mooring points where local clubs offer courses for both beginners and more experienced sailors. Opposite the El Hornillo breakwater at Águilas, the Isle of El Fraile is a small island covered with rocky slope sea bottoms and seaweed colonies. Another diving hotspot is located at the foot of the Crag of Cabo Cope.
Águilas also offers a variety of other watersports – kayaking, sailing, snorkeling, windsurfing, jet skiing and paddlesurfing – with courses in many of the disciplines given by qualified teachers.
For those preferring a less-active holiday, whale-watching is possible offshore, with boat hire. Murcia has virtually no continental shelf off the coast, so the deep water provides an excellent habitat for pilot, sperm and fin whales. Striped Atlantic bottlenose and short-beaked common dolphins are also a regular sight, with trips available from Mazarrón port or Cartagena.
Accommodation options are extensive and diverse on the Costa Cálida, but one that specifically offers visitors a range of nautical sports courses and lessons is Hotel Puerto Juan Montiel, Spa and Nautical Base – a four-star resort on the Águilas seafront. The 126-room hotel’s other facilities include a swimming pool, spa, pádel tennis courts, mini-golf course and various dining options – while a special family package has been designed for the British market.
In the meantime, find out why Spain “continues to be a safe tourism destination”.