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The superb beaches and main coastal stretch of the Costa de la Luz (Coast of Light) runs all the way from Ayamonte near the Portuguese border down to hotspot windsurfing location Tarifa. Increasingly though the stretch of coast running up from La Linea on the eastern side of the Gibraltar promontory running up to Sotogrande and its luxury choice of golf courses is also being included under the Costa de la Luz heading. In the heart of the area is Cadiz, a Spanish city with a real edge offering a funpacked nightlife and cafe culture, ancient historic sights and carnivals like no other city in Spain. Get ready to party!
The best of the Andalucian coast's beaches are down here on the Costa de la Luz - checkout Tarifa's Playa de los Lances and the 12km white endless sands of Zahara de los Atunes between Barbate and Tarifa. In all you've 90km of stunning white sandy coast between Cadiz and Tarifa. This stretch of the Costa de la Luz is particularly popular with Andalucians who flock here during the peak summer months of July and August. International visitors are increasingly heading here for windsurfing at Tarifa and the stunning white sands.
The Costa de la Luz coast is a wild extravaganza of best Andalucian beaches. Starting at the top end near Ayamonte and the Portuguese border, you've 7km of fine white sands around Isla Canela and Punta del Moral. Plenty of watersports and golf around this area too. Moving down towards La Antilla is another long beach stretching for 22km with little inland town Lepe. Golf courses, watersports and more are all in abundance around the beaches of Antilla, as are luxury 4 star hotels.
Pushing further south towards Cadiz the beach area of Mazagon offers 10km of golden sands. This Costa de la Luz beach area is popular with campers and a little more remote. Move further south and you arrive at Matalascanas which is the largest resort area on the Huelva stretch of the Costa de la Luz. No shortage of restaurants, discos and hotels here! The stunning Donana National Park is within easy reach.
Just to the north of Cadiz the stunning beach bay including El Puerto de Santa Maria is particularly busy in the summer season. Visitors pour in for the sublime beaches here, plus you're just 22km by road from Cadiz, and even quicker by boat! The ferry service running between El Puerto de Santa Maria and Cadiz harbour takes around 45 minutes and it's less than 10 euros return! Checkout the El Puerto de Santa Maria tourist webguide right for details. Sanlucar, just to the north west of El Puerto is famous for its sherry-like wine called manzanilla. A number of sherry bodegas in the Sanlucar area open their doors for sherry tours. Checkout the full list via the Sanlucar webguide right.
Pushing closer to Gibraltar, Tarifa is a tourist hub on the Costa de la Luz. A pilgrimage for windsurfing and kitesurfing fans, Tarifa gets the winds down here and offers some of Europe's best conditions for both kitesurfing and windsurfing. Tarifa's beaches are hard to beat, with clean white sands. Laid back and with a bohemian edge, Tarifa offers a host of attractions from its pretty old town, spectacular 10km beach - Playa de los Lances and numerous kitesurfing and windsurfing schools and hire venues. Horse riding, whale watching and bird watching (watch birds migrate across the Strait of Gibraltar) are all popular here too. Tarifa's kitesurfing and windsurfing action is concentrated along the stretch of coast between Tarifa and Punta Paloma.
For Cadiz Tourist Information see the superb Cadiz webguide right. Find tourist information at, Cadiz Municipal Tourist Office, Plaza San Juan de Dios 11, Cadiz. Tel. 956 24 10 01.
Attractions within Cadiz, all listed in-depth via the Cadiz webguide right include Cadiz's yellow hatted cathedral, various bustling Plazas such as Plaza San Juan de Dios and Plaza De Topete and the Museo De Cadiz which is home to a superb fine arts collection which includes canvases by Zurbaran and Murillo!
For Cadiz's many restaurants, bars and information on this exciting city's choice of fiestas and carnivals check out the Cadiz webguide right.
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