Best beaches in Murcia, Cartagena, Cala Cortina.

 

This is a secluded cove on the edge of Cartagena and during the busiest summer weeks is really busy and buzzing, being the nearest beach to the centre of Cartagena and very popular with the locals.

 Protective netting screens it off for swimmers and during the summer it has a lifeguard, toilets,  first aid facilities and a busy fish restaurant, which, although a little on the pricey side compared to other restaurants does reasonable staples as well as the normal snacks and drinks.

 

There is plenty of parking above, although a large number of steps then lead down to the beach, or there is parking at beach level, with a walk through tunnel for those with less mobility.

How to get there
It is accessed from the port area of Cartagena.

Drive along the sea front and bear around to the right, alongside the port. At the roundabout with the old crane on it, bear around to the right, following the line of the port and carry on through the tunnel and you'll find the beach on the right.

If you enjoy exploring , take the right hand fork at a point where the road curves off on a corner and it takes you down by the side of the great harbour walls of Cartagena. Moored down the side you will find some of the Spanish naval vessels and a small area at the end with a diving school, where the locals come to fish, as the water is deep, but with good access , perfect for a quiet Sunday morning fishing session.

We also found a lot of locals fishing further along the coastal road which heads into the refinery area of Escombreras. Carrying on along the coast road, there are quite a few secluded , rocky bays which could be easily accessed, and along a bumpy track that ran down off the road, we found dozens of fishermen sitting on the massive concrete blocks that support the shore in this corner. It was interesting to see the enormous refinery operations tucked away here, at the foot of Cartagena, the scale of industry down here is quite astonishing, and surprisingly, some of it is quite pleasing to look at, the shapes being very architectural. We were actually quite  surprised to find how much we'd enjoyed exploring this little corner of Cartagena.

If you don't want to eat at the restaurant on the beach, but want to really try Cartagenan fish how the locals eat it, go back towards Cartagena and try one of the fish restaurants on the corner opposite the port. The Spanish flock here in their hundreds, and at weekends there can be long queues.
We were a little fried fished out by the time we'd tried a few dishes, but its as authentically Spanish as it gets, and the locals love it.

 

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