Murcian beach guide , Isla Plana and L'Azohia

With 2 launching points for sailing boats, inc deep launch ramp. 

This stretch of beaches almost feel as though they should belong to Mazarron, as they are right on the far tip of Cartagena,  30 odd km from the centre of the city of Cartagena. This area was traditionally a series of fishing vilages and has been inhabited since Roman times by fishermen, but is today a popular area for tourism, with older spanish villa properties and still with a small village feel. It is not over-developed and as  a result, the beaches are never over-crowded.

Between L'Azohia and the next beaches in the Cartagena municipality, El Portus and Galifa, is wild, rocky coastline, popular with divers as it has a couple of small, sandy coves which are excellent for tuition purposes. This area is largely inaccessible by land, usually just used by those with motorboats for day trips.

It is just possible to get to a couple of the coves by dirt track, but in reality, the beaches stop at the end of L'Azohia.

Leaving the Puerto de Mazarron, a thin stretch of beach runs between two roundabouts, one with a  fishing boat  and the other a lighthouse, with the El Alamillo urbanization behind it, called Playa Alamillo. This is sometimes used for windsurfing, depending on the wind direction, but in the summer is the home of Nora Nautic, who hire out Jet skis and  motor boats. On the opposite side of the road is the Buena Vista Social Club with tennis and paddle courts for hire and a busy bar. There is also a beach bar(Chiringuita de playa) which has live music on Saturday evenings (peak season) and a life guard, (peak season).This stretch of beach comes under the jurisdiction of Mazarron council.
This beach is a good launching point for sailing dinghies, small powerboats and jetskis as it has good access directly off the road and a good sloping beach shelf.

 

Turning right at the roundabout  towards Isla Plana, you enter the municipality of Cartagena. The first beach on the right is a lovely sheltered beach, known by the locals as stone beach, because many of the stones are so beautiful. A geological movement millions of years ago left veins of stunningly coloured marbles and rocks jutting into the sea along this stretch , so many beachstones are multicoloured, rounded off by the action of the sea, and have been used to make many an attractive rockery by those in the know.

The far corner of this beach in front of the 5 apartment blocks is popular with surfers in the autumn and spring, the tides running into this corner providing perfect surfing conditions.

Carrying on into Isla Plana itself, you'll find several restaurants and the popular Neighbours Association social club, which sits above a tiny fishing bay and looks onto a splendid promenade and beach area. This really is one of the best kept secrets around, as the stylish outdoor seating area has great views across the seafront and little church, good prices and free entertainment most of the summer.

There are two main beaches in Isla Plana, one in front of the social club, and the other stretching along to the left, neither of which are particularly spectacular, but are useful if you want shop and restaurant facilities nearby.

There are a series of access ramps heading down onto the beach,  and in the summer toilets and footwashing facilities are available.

A lifeguard and vigilance service is available between the 1st July and the 31st August, between 11 and 7pm.Parking is in the urban environment and can get crowded, it often being necessary to park on the opposite side of the road and walk across to the beaches. There are good restaurants here for a menu del dia.

Click for map, Isla Plana

L'Azohia port has deep water  boat launching ramp

 From here, the coastline continues around to the right and a right hand turn will bring you down into L'Azohia.The beaches run along the right hand side of the road to the end of the rocky promontary, and there are 2 named beaches, La Chapineta and San Gines.

The L'Azohia beaches are long, fairly empty and not particularly wide, but come equipped with all the facilities you could wish for. Apartments and villas run along on the opposite side of the road, together with a reasonable selection of restaurants and bars. The beach is fairly exposed and seems to catch the wind a bit, but this is very welcome in the summer heat.

There are 2 vigilance points along this stretch of coastline. The La Chapineta point is open between the 1st July and 31st August, and the more densely populated San Gines beach is open from 3rd-12th April and then from 1st June until the end of September. On this beach the guard is there between 11am and 7pm daily.

There is a point for the hire of beach toys and equipment, together with foot washing facilities and toilets.

One of the main reasons people head to L'Azohia is the launching ramp for sailing boats which is right at the far end of the beaches. Day trippers can launch powerboats or sailing vessels from the slipway, which gets quite busy during summer weekends, and sometimes there's quite a queue waiting to get in or out of the water.

L'Azohia is also the home of the Rivemar  diving school, where it is possible to enjoy a drink in the bars or book diving excursions or tuition, and FINS also operate out of Mazarron, offering a full range of tuition at all levels, including taster courses. They are english run, so there are no language difficulties.

This section of coastline is renowned for its fantastic diving opportunities, recognised internationally as offering superb diving with clear waters and interesting marine life.

It's also excellent for snorkeling, as the rocky coastline holds a fantastic selection of marine life, and snorkelers can swim along the edge easily from the small beach at the side of the launching ramp.

This launching ramp was actually built by the military to land the great Vickers guns which are 250 metres up on top of the rocky outcrops which stretch from L'azohia towards Cartagena, protecting this stretch of coast, but it's a very useful corner for those with boats who don't want to leave them in the water.

From here, powerboats can easily drive along towards Mazarron and moor in the shallow waters off the coast for excellent snorkelling, or head towards Cartagena and stop at one of the secluded bays on the shoreline.

 Click for map, L'Azohia

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