Playa El Galán beach in La Manga del Mar Menor

700 metres of well-used sandy beach with views towards Isla Grosa

Playa el Galán runs between kilometres 7.2 and 6.5 on the Mar Menor side of La Manga in a built-up area which contributes to its popularlity, as do the fine sand and the attractive view towards Isla Grosa. 

Services and facilities include toilets, footwashes, telephones, beach cleaning, bins, wooden walkways, scuba diving, beach chiringuito beach bars, hire of boats, sports equipment, lungers and sunshades and disabled access. There are also plenty of bars, shops and restaurants nearby.

Access: a bus service runs right along the length of La Manga throughout the day with several stops giving access to the beach and parking for cars in the urban areas which back onto it.

Safety precautions for bathers

Most Mar Menor beaches have very gently sloping shelves, enabling bathers to walk a considerable distance from the shore and still only be waist high in the water. These shore fringes are also very warm, noticeably more so than the deeper waters on the Mediterranean coastline.

Many are protected by netting to exclude jellyfish. This creates safe bathing areas for families but also leads to a situation which can be life threatening: elderly bathers should be wary of bathing alone as every year there are unnecessary deaths when bathers suffer a heart attack, stroke, faint or have a dizzy spell of some sort while nobody else is aware that this has happened.

If you have a medical condition, are taking medication, or are of advanced age, don´t bathe alone no matter how shallow and calm the water is.

And for all ages, a red flag means DO NOT BATHE.

Click to see an overview of the beaches in San Javier, or to go to the home page of San Javier Today for more local news, events and other information.