By Zoë Ouwehand-Reid

We are often asked which are the ‘best’ beaches. For wind and kite surfers, look at the beach below the Hurricane Hotel, or the beach beyond Valdevaqueros, or Spinout (the last before the sand dunes) as all these have surf schools and equipment rentals.

For families with smaller children, Bolonia beach is pretty ideal as there is virtually no current (it is a very large bay) and is the only place where you can rent sunbeds and a parasol in June, July and August only.

You can also turn off the Cadiz road to Punta Paloma (you see the high sanddunes on your left) and shortly thereafter turn left into a parking. You can walk for miles from there along the beach. You can also drive further up this road and take your luck at being able to park, and walk through the pine trees down to the beach and walk from there. You can picnic under the shade of the pine trees. You can climb to the top of the dunes and get a wonderful view back along the coast to Tarifa.

--- Tarifa Beaches ---

Tarifa beaches are surely the best of the whole coast, miles of golden sand backed by dunes and pine forests. There is a path all the way along the beach from Tarifa (Punta Paloma) to Bolonia - takes probably about four hours (but if you do this, get someone to meet you at Bolonia so you can come back by car otherwise it is much too far!). Take plenty of water, suncream and a sunhat. You can stop for a ‘mudpack’ on the way, said to be excellent for the skin. There is one ‘chiringuito’( very informal beach-type café) between Punta Paloma and Bolonia, signposted up from the beach, called El Mierlo which is not always open.

So - as you see, we don’t apologize for the wind - it is the wind that has kept Tarifa as it is, and so far no high rise hotels have appeared along this stretch of coast, and coach loads don’t come here (other than to deposit groups at the ferry to cross to Morocco). We do appreciate that if the Levante blows the whole time you are here it is disappointing and can be frustrating to the non-surfers(also because then Morocco is often not to be seen as there is too much sand in the air). For the surfers, no wind is equally frustrating. We hope you’ll be lucky and have the weather conditions that suit you!