Mazarrón beaches: Playa de Bahía

Q for Quality and Blue Flag at this popular sandy "no smoking" beach in Puerto de Mazarrón

Playa de Bahía is a semi-urban beach adjoining Playa de la Reya and is the first in an unbroken stretch of sand running from Puerto de Mazarrón towards Bolnuevo for several kilometres.

The Playa de Bahía is an urban Mediterranean beach, one of a line of 33 along the 35-kilometre coastline of Mazarrón between the municipalities of Cartagena and Lorca. It is easily accessed from Avenida D. José Alarcón Palacios, which forms part of the long coastal road linking the town to Bolnuevo, and from Hotel Bahía.

This area is lined with residential houses and apartments, with a number of small dead-end streets running off the main road down to the edge of the beach. These provide plenty of parking, although during the summer, when the population of the municipality swells from 30,000 to 150,000, space does become limited. There are also bicycle racks and some spaces allocated for disabled parking, although during the summer there’s very little chance of finding one unoccupied.

The beach is also serviced by the urban bus on the urban Mazarrón-Murcia route. For the latest timetable and further information go to the dedicated Mazarrón municipality section (see Tourist info for bus timetables).

Playa de Bahía blends into Playa de la Reya, indeed it is impossible to distinguish where one stops and the other starts.

Officially this is graded as a semi-urban high occupancy beach, but in fact it is far less crowded than many on the Spanish coast due to there being so many to choose from in Mazarrón!

At the western end of the bay there are rocky coves with smaller beaches, including the small bay in front of the Bahía hotel.

On the headland of Cabezo de la Cebada there are wooden walkways and steps leading to a viewing point which looks down over the marina and out over the sea and bays. It´s a pleasant place to walk and relax, particularly on fine autumn and spring days when the heat is off.

A little novelty which always draws a smile is the habit of young couples attaching a personalised padlock to the railings at the top of this Cabezo to show their affection for each other. 

There are plenty of restaurants, bars and shops within easy walking distance of the beach, and facilities on neighbouring beaches as well.

During the summer there is a full range of services, including footwashes, childrens play facilities, beach bars, beach equipment and pedaloes for hire, bathing seats and toilets adapted for disabled use and safety personnel on site.

There are also disabled parking spaces, and with all of these facilities in mind Playa de Bahía flies the Blue Flag and the Q for Quality flag, indicating that  it has been recognised by the Spanish Tourist Board for the quality of the services as well as its cleanliness and the quality of the water.

In the summer of 2019 the Town Hall of Mazarrón declared the Playa de Bahía a “no smoking beach”. There is no absolute ban on smoking – such a prohibition would be against Spanish law as it stands – but beachgoers are actively discouraged from lighting up, and those who insist of doing so are offered leaflets explaining why there are requested not to and disposable ashtrays.

The reasons for this initiative are threefold: to avoid annoying other beach users, to encourage a healthier lifestyle and to help protect the marine environment: one cigarette can contaminate up to 50 litres of water, and the filter takes between 1 and 10 years to decompose in the sea.

Click for an overview of all 33 beaches in the municipality of Mazarrón, or for more information relating to Mazarrón.