The Mar Menor

The Mar Menor lies on the Costa Calida, midway between Valencia and the Costa del Sol. Communications are excellent, with the main north-south coastal motorway close by and good access by road and rail to Madrid.

The sun shines on the Mar Menor 320 days and 3000 hours a year. The average temperature all year is 17ºC, and the average temperatures during June, July, August and September surpass 31ºC. Winters are mild, and temperatures do not go below 10ºC.

The Mar Menor is formed by a narrow strip of land known as La Manga (The Sleeve) and has a water temperature some 5º warmer than the surrounding Mediterranean Sea. Many go to swim there all year round, many others go for the healing mud baths located at Lo Pagan which have become famous worldwide for their healing properties.

The wetlands at the northern end of the Mar Menor are of international importance and a must for nature lovers, who can enjoy the spectacle of thousands of waterbirds and flamingos flocking during migration times. The nearby town of San Pedro del Pinatar is a centre for agriculture and fishing, as well as tourism. In neighbouring Lo Pagán you will find the well-known mud baths in the salt flats, a massive draw for those seeking cures and beauty treatments.

Sport and leisure fans are as well catered for here as anywhere in Europe. Quite apart from watersports encompassing waterskiing, jetskiing, windsurfing and sailing there is an outstanding selection of golf courses including the some of Spain’s finest at La Manga Club and those of the Mar Menor Resort. There’s also walking and hiking and a plentiful supply of bikes to hire.

The towns and resorts of Mar Menor are geared up to the needs and requirements of discerning diners and you can eat your way round the world from Spain via Mexico, the Far East, the Sub-Continent and the rest of Europe. Fish restaurants are, of course, plentiful and generally excellent and there are countless bars, clubs, cafes and even casinos all around the ‘Little Sea’

Shopping is first rate in towns like San Pedro del Pinatar, San Javier, Santiago de la Ribera, Los Alcázares and Los Nietos, while there are marinas dotted up and down the Mar Menor where you can wander and admire the craft or just grab a cool drink and watch the boats come and go.

Back on the culture trail, there’s a leading archaeological museum, salt mills and fascinating ancestral homes such as Clock House, where the famous Spanish politician Emilio Castelar spent the last period of his life, and the Palace of the Counts of Villar de Felices, known as The House of the Russian Woman.

To the south of the Mar Menor is the ancient city of Cartagena where visitors can find some stunning monuments from Roman times and beyond. 

Also located on the Mar Menor is the town of San Javier, where the airport is located (often referred to as Murcia airport) which serves this whole region.

Very close to the Mar Menor there are some unexposed areas where you can spend a day at the beach. The Calblanque Regional Park is an ideal area. You can get there from the Cartagena-La Manga freeway, taking the exit to Calblanque.

In 1987 it was declared a protected area and today it offers an exclusive group of beaches, salt flats and cliffs. Its rough coastline hides coves and small beaches with fine sand that offer the privacy searched for by those naturism lovers. If the visitor goes further away from the dunes it is advisable to change shoes because the ground starts to get rocky and there are larger surfaces of volcanic rock bordering cliffs.

Tourists must also take care when approaching the fossil dunes, which are considered as the most highly valued natural element of this area, near the Rasall salt flats. If you walk a little towards the interior, the landscape changes again: plains where you can hardly get any shade, but also vegetation which has grown again and now includes dwarf palm trees and other species. What remains of the pine trees is found in El Horno and La Fuente Hills.