Costa Calida

Dumyat

Has anyone been?...where is good to stay?
I've spent the day looking at villas but just wondering if anyone has some inside information on the area.

LesD

dogrose wrote:

Has anyone been?...where is good to stay?
I've spent the day looking at villas but just wondering if anyone has some inside information on the area.

We've got a place near Mazarron. What sort of info do you want?

There's a wide range of places from up-market La Manga Resort to off-the-beaten track villages.

Dumyat

just a bit lost with the number of properties....
we normally like reasonably quiet places but near somewhere busier if you know what I mean. Dont like huge resorts with all day breakfasts lol. What towns do you recommend? Dont need to be at the coast either...not that big a beach fan.
Some of the villas look very close to your neighbours if you know what I mean..

LesD

There are two parts to the Costa Calida. North of Cartagena is the La Manga area which is a long stretch of coastline with high rise hotels and apartment blocks. In summer, it comes alive and is a mainly Spanish resort. It is also where many soccer clubs go for off-season training.

There is a massive salt water lagoon and on the 'inside' of that are several quieter resorts - San Pedro del Pinatar, Los Alcarzares, etc. These are mainly populated by holiday homes and Brits who have left UK for a place in the sun!

South of Cartagena is very undeveloped. They are just building a motorway to open it up but currently, the only resorts are at Puerto de Mazarron and Aguilas.

Inland from there is the Sierra Espuna which is a large Parque Natural - great for hiking and bird watching - feathered sort!

There are no Disneyland-type attractions. There are dolphin-watch cruises but not much else.

Fish is the food of choice and the wines are average. It is also where much of our imported tomatoes come from.

This area has the lowest rainfall in Spain - although if you'd been there last week, you wouldn't believe it! Away from the coast, the average temp in July/August is 35-40 degrees C!

The only large towns are Cartagena and Murcia (the provincial capital). Cartagena has some very interesting archaeological sites and is home to the Spanish fleet. This is the land of Moors and Christians. There are many festivals, check websites for the dates.

Some websites to use are...

http://www.carm.es/ctyc/murciaturistica/Portal/iya.menu.menu?idi=2
http://www.idealspain.com/Pages/Places/CostaCalida.asp

Dumyat

thank you ...that was helpful!

LesD

If you want to let me know some of the specific villas you're looking at, I may be able to help further.

budgetflyer

We stayed at La Manga Mar Menor end of Sept. It was very very quiet.Location wise it was brilliant for a lazy break. On one side you have the Mar Menor salt lake, across the road 150 yards the Med.Facilities wise this area lacks compared to North Costa Blanca. A lot of these urbanisations have very little outwith a few shops, the odd bar and resturant

Dumyat

thanks budget flyer...that sounds like the kind of place we go for....have been looking at some of LesD's suggestions too....San Pedro del Pinatar, Los Alcarzares. They look quite promising too. Will spend the rest of today surfing! It always helps to pin down exactly what area you want...there is certainly not a lack of accomodation for rent out there and it seems more reasonably priced than some other areas we have been to...

stellagypsy

We fly to Murcia and drive north about 20 mins to stay at BIL's villa near Rojales - nearest resort is Guadamar, which has a really nice beach. We had a good scout round last time we were there and liked a place called Cabo Roig, near Torrevieja a lot. Lovely sheltere bay safe for kids, nicely developed, don't know what is available in terms of holiday lets in that area but it was lovely.

HTH, Stella

Dumyat

thanks stellagypsy...will add that to my list ....

LesD

budgetflyer wrote:

We stayed at La Manga Mar Menor end of Sept. It was very very quiet.Location wise it was brilliant for a lazy break. On one side you have the Mar Menor salt lake, across the road 150 yards the Med.Facilities wise this area lacks compared to North Costa Blanca. A lot of these urbanisations have very little outwith a few shops, the odd bar and resturant

La Manga is really two resorts of its own! In-season it's very busy, but out-of-season it mostly closes down apart from the few permanent residents.

I should have pointed out that there is a lot of yachting around the lagoon, but, as we are not boat people, I can't say what hiring possibilities exist.

The Costa Calida is definitely not a Costa Blanca/Costa Brava/Costa del Sol! There are many 'urbanisations' occupied mostly by Brits. But, away from these, you get to see the famous 'real Spain'!

For a day out, it is easily possible to drive to Benidorm (80-90 miles; all motorway). There are a couple of theme parks there and, of course, the 'Blackpool Promenade'!

The same distance inland brings you to wine country and there are health spas in the sierras.

Certainly, a car is a necessity. Outside the main towns, public transport is varied and unpredictable. Car hire, though, is cheap - we use Carjet.