Cruising from Calpe : The Area : The Americas Cup : Alicante

The Area Around Calpe - Guide to Boating in the Costa Brava

Calpe is situated near the northern end of the Coast Brava - an area of sunny Spain considered by most to be home to the best yachting waters in the world. It is an impressive town - whose gorgeous beaches and clear blue warm waters are overlooked by the spectacular Peñon Ifach - a large rock jutting sharply out of the mainland at 250 metres high.

Sailing south, as you look back on the panorama of Calpe bay, you will reach the next city along the Spanish coast - Benidorm. This is a beautiful city, with brilliant designed buildings which back in the sun. The beach here often gets very busy during the summer tourist season, and for good reason too.
South of Benidorm, the scenery just gets more beautiful. Small towns along the coast, backed by the large green mountains of the Spanish mainland, and the moments where the soft golden sands oscillate abruptly into sharp cliffs, and then lower back down again to their original gentleness.

It is about 35km southwest of Calpe that you will get your first glimpse of Alicante - the most important city along the Costa Blanca. Alicante has everything a Spanish city should have - golden beaches, luxurious hotels, blue waters, clubs, restaurants al fresco, a Cathedral, a castle, and most importantly - an airport. Most British airports offer flights to Alicante, making it the closest Spanish airport to our base in Calpe. Hire cars and taxis are readily available from here, the drive northeast to Calpe usually taking a maximum of 50 minutes. Please see our Alicante section for more details of the city.

However, Alicante is not a southern point of the Costa Blanca. Continuing down the coast after Alicante, the beaches briefly disappear as they give way to the busy coastal road. This next stretch of coastline is relatively quite and secluded, the next town being Santa Pola, 20kn south of Alicante. From here downwards the beaches return, stretching like golden threads all down the coast.

Finally, after travelling over 100km southwest from Calpe, the town of Torrevieja. This is considered to be the southernmost point of the Costa Brava, and the turning point in the journey of most yachters from calpe.