Playa La Caleta is a small beach at the far end of the Cádiz peninsula, near the Viña area and is located between two old castles: Castillo de Santa Catalina and Castillo de San Sebastián. It is known as one of the most beautiful beaches in Cádiz City and one of the most photographed.
Also known as the pulmón verde (the 'green lung') of the Bay of Cadiz, Puerto Real lies with the sea and marshes to one side and extensive pine forests to the other. It is home to one beach, Playa de la Cachucha, one of just two beaches located inside the Bay of Cadiz.
To the east of the Rota American naval base is the town of El Puerto Santa María which is well known for its sherry, cobbled streets and typical Andaluz architecture. The first beach to the east of the naval base is Playa de Fuentebravía. The golden, sandy beach is 1.6km long with a width of 30m and is backed by the Fuentabravía residential area.
Rota is not a major tourist center but it does boast 16 kilometres of beautiful beaches. La Ballena: Playa de la Ballena is a 2.5km beach of fine sand backed by the relatively new Costa Ballena urbanisation. The beach has a seasonal chiringuito, several kiosks and sun loungers, parasols and boats to hire. The beach can be reached by bus from Rota town centre.
Chipiona boasts some beautiful beaches, frequented by many people living in and around Seville. However, due government funding, the area is gradually opening up to international tourism. Monitjo beach is located just west of the Punta de Montijo. The sandy beach is quite pebbly in areas, with lots of seashells around for those into beach combing.
Popular with Sunday day trippers, but quiet in the week. Large sand dunes to the north and military land ensure it will always remain totally undeveloped. Visit the ruins of the Roman town . The village to the south is waking up to tourists very quickly and bars and hotels are opening up.
Discover the Tarifa beach scene - the fine golden sands, those surf-loving winds, and that very special light of the Costa de la Luz, together make an unbeatable combination. The 10 km of white sandy paradise for which Tarifa is famous. Located north of the town as far as small headland on which sits Torre de la Peña. The beach and the pines behind it are officially protected as a Natural Area.
El Palmar is located 5km north of Vejer and is the Surf capital of Andalucia. Unknown by non-Spanish visitors until recently, El Palmar is becoming more popular for its laid-back atmosphere and unspoiled landscape. The dunes and foliage are being carefully preserved with elegant solid wooden walkways leading to the beach. The sand is golden.
The modern beachfront development of Urbanisacion Roche is located on the Costa de la Luz, between the coastal conurbations of Novo Sancti Petri and Conil de la Frontera. It is about 15km northwest of Conil.
Barbate is a town of some 20.000 people on the Costa de la Luz, 40km north of Tarifa. This modern town, (often called Barbate de Franco because the ex-dictator spent many summers here), has grown up around a fishing industry which goes back to Roman times when the fish-salting industry was at its peak.
Like so many towns in Andalucía the approach to El Puerto de Santa María along the main road is lined with garages, industrial plants and run down buildings. Keep going and cross the River Guadalete on the NIV (if coming from south) and turn into Calle Ribiera de los Mariscos and park in one of the car parks signposted.
Caños de Meca is a small, unspoiled community on the windswept but stunning Costa de la Luz. Deep in the Parque Natural del Acantilado, Caños de Meca has beautiful beaches, backed by cliffs and pine trees. Perched on the cliff-tops straddling the coast road, this little village is fast waking up to a reputation as a trendy place for beatnik travellers and wave-jumpers to spend the summer.
Rota, an ancient town, stands at the extreme north of the Bay of Cádiz in a privileged position. The town opens out to the Atlantic and behind are two national parks, the Natural Park of the Bay of Cádiz and the Doñana. It is also a town of two extreme contrasts.
Baelo Claudia, near Tarifa, is one of Andalucia´s most significant and well-preserved Roman archeological sites. The extensive ruins are situated on the Costa de la Luz, some 15km north of Tarifa, by the small town of Bolonia and its beautiful beach. The site´s important history rests on the former city having been a strategic point for trade routes between Europe and North Africa.
Zahara de los Atunes is one of the most charming, and fashionable, towns on the Cadiz Costa de la Luz. With a stunning beach, boasting crystal-clear waters and golden sand, Zahara's main advantage over some other beach resorts in the area, which consist largely of hotels (albeit low-rise) and restaurants lining a beachfront road, is its villagey feel.
Bolonia is a small isolated ex fishing and farming village on the Atlantic Costa de la Luz 20km north from the surfer paradise of Tarifa and 20km south of Zahara de los Atunes. It is also the site of one of the three most important Roman archaeological excavations in Andalucía, along with Italica outside Sevilla and Acinipo outside Ronda.
The original Sancti Petri was a small tuna-fishing village located on a spit of land on the Atlantic coast near San Fernando, where the Cadiz peninsula meets the mainland. On the southern side, it is surrounded by marshes and sand bars, and beyond those, the town of Chiclana de la Frontera.
Just inland from the coast Chiclana sits on a small hill overlooking the marismas (salt marshes). The town dates from 1303, when King Fernando IV of Castille gave the land to Guzman El Bueno, the defender of Tarifa, who was succeeded by the Duques de Medina Sidonia.
Sitting on the coast in the far west of the province of Cádiz, the pretty town of Chipiona lies at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river, only 52km from the city of Cádiz itself, Chipiona dates back to Roman times and currently has around 17,000 inhabitants.
Appropriately christened the Costa de la Luz (Coast of the Light), the Atlantic shoreline of Cadiz province have many wild and windswept beaches, with its strong winds making Tarifa the foremost windsurf and kitesurfing site in Europe.
