Costa Tropical Map

The Costa Tropical is located on the southern coast of Spain. To the west of the Costa Tropical one will find the Costa del Sol while to the east of the Cost a Tropical one will find the Costa Almeria. The Costa Tropical starts to the east of Nerja with the sea side resort of La Herradura and ends in the west with the city and port of Almeria and is on a stretch of coastline on Mediterranean known as the Alboran Sea.

The airport which services the Costa Tropical is Almeria Airport while a greater choice of flights can be found servicing Malaga Airport. Granada Airport has a more limited amount of services to the United Kingdom with only Ryan Air to Liverpool and London Stansted. Granada in itself is worth a visit apart from the skiing especially the Alhambra Palace and fortress.

The Costa Tropical is located in the province of Granada and belongs to the comunidad of Andalucia. The Costa Tropical is lush compared to the Costa del Sol because of the Sierra Nevada Mountains which provide the area with a little more rain in the winter. Costa Tropical weather allows for skiing in the winter in the morning and sunbathing and swimming in the afternoon. The Costa Tropical is the only stretch of coastline in Europe which sees bathers in the Mediterranean Sea throughout the year.

The main towns and sea side resorts on the Costa Tropical include Almuñecar. In the heart of Almuñecar or Almunecar one will find the Castle of San Miguel. Almunecar dates back to Phoenician times, 800 BC and throughout the ages has remained an important port of industry. The Moors left much of their influence stamped on Almunecar as can be seen from the white washed houses and Old Town. Almunecar has almost twenty beaches located along its twenty kilometres of coastline.

Salobrena also dates back further than Moorish times and its history goes back 6000 years. The Old Town consist of white houses and cobbled streets surrounding the Moorish castle. Salobrena is surrounded by sugar can fields and Europe’s only sugar can factory is located in the village of Caleta. Salobreña has eight kilometres of coastline with pristine white sandy beaches and are very busy during the main tourist season in the summer.

Motril is the second largest town on the Costa Tropical with over fifty thousand permanent residents. Motril is also a town of commerce trading in flowers and vegetables much of which is grown in greenhouses and here avocados and mangoes are grown owing to its almost tropical climate. Motril has many different beaches of which the Playa Grenada is the most popular. The Playa La Joya is the nudist beach of Motril. Motril is also an important fishing port specialising in boqueron which are white anchovies prepared for tapas dishes.

The neighbouring towns of Torrenueva, Carchuna and Calohonda also have a good range of beaches. La Herradura has nineteen kilometres of coastline of which the main beach is two kilometres long and is a popular spot for water sports and diving. La Herradura has a good range of amenities and restaurants and a promenade which stretches the length of the bay of which the resort centre is located at the east end of the bay.

Roquetas de Mar is the largest of the sea side resort located to the west of Almeria. Roquetas de Mar has quite a few beaches and isn’t as popular as other resorts on the Costa Tropical and is much quieter in the peak tourist season. Roquetas de Mar is a perfect holiday destination for families with children with many facilities and a mini train service. The three kilometre Roquetas de Mar beach has coarse grey sand with many water sports facilities which include water skiing, jet skiing fishing and sailing. Aling the Roquetas de Mar beach there is also an allocated area for nude bathing.

The Costa Tropical is still relatively undiscovered compared to the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol and some of the smaller resorts include Castell del Rey, Aguadulce, Almerimar, Guardias Viejas, Balerma, Balanegra, Adra, Guainos Bajos, El Castillo de Huarea, La Rabita, Melicena, La Mamola, Castillo de Baños, Castell de Ferro, Monte de los Almendros, Torre del Diablo, Torre Caleta, Torre del Pino and Torre del Rio de la Miel. The next resorts along are Maro and Nerja which mark the Eastern end of the Costa del Sol. Water parks on the Costa Tropical include the Aqua Tropic Water Park in Almunecar and the Aquaola Water Park in Granada.

The Costa Tropical is unique with its climate where even the winter days feel like summer.