San Pedro del Pinatar beaches: Playa Punta de Algas

The southernmost of the three beaches forming the Playas de la Llana

This stretch of glorious Mediterranean beaches present a wonderful opportunity for lovers of wilder beaches to escape from the crowd and enjoy the open space of a vast beach area.

There are three beaches in a long run, backed by sand dunes and the salt flats, with fine, soft sand. These are Playa de la Llana (1,200 metres) Playa de Barraca Quemada (700 metres) and Playa de Punta de Algas (1,200 metres).

Parking and access

All of these beaches are low occupancy, due to the fact that parking near to them is difficult. The main parking area is by the marina, where there are restaurants and bars serving a variety of meals and snacks, and from there the path leads off along the top of the sand dunes linking the three beaches.

The car park is accessed by driving through the regional park of the salt flats and dunes of San Pedro del Pinatar.

Although there is theoretically a cycle path, it's pretty heavy going as the bikes sink into the soft, deep sand on top of the dunes, so this has become a walkers' paradise, with many people enjoying a good stroll along the tops of the dunes or on the shore of the beaches themselves.

Another option is to access the beaches via the town area of San Pedro del Pinatar, with street parking near to the windmill known as the Molino del Quintín, but again this is a good walk (or ride) of 3 kilometres to reach the beach via the Playa de la Mota.

Another slight downside of these beaches is that they can become quite heavily clogged with posidonia seaweed at some times of the year, and whilst this adds spice to the tangy sea air it can make it hard going on the beach in places where the posidonia accumulates.

However, even when there are deposits of Posidonia, this run of beaches is so long that there are always plenty of areas which are posidonia free, so beachgoers are guaranteed space, and peace and quiet. There is no natural shade, so take a parasol if intending to stay in the sun for some time.

The walk along the top of the dunes is glorious in spring and autumn.

The Playa Punta de Algas is just over 1,200 metres long, an average of 20 metres wide, and has fine, soft grey sand. It is interesting from a geographical point of view as it is at the southern end that the Mediterranean and the Mar Menor converge. This is an area of rough canes and reeds breaking the continuity of the land, as the edge of the saltwater lagoon becomes obscured by an indistinct area of marshy reeds.

Slightly further along a series of more pronounced "islands" (for want of a better word) are formed along the spit which later expands to form a more tangible barrier enclosing the Mar Menor: this is the northern end of La Manga.

The main area of beach extends from that of Playa de la Barraca Quemada and is a long, sandy run, although with low occupancy due to the difficulties of access.

Click for more information about the beaches of San Pedro del Pinatar, or for more local news, events and information in the San Pedro del Pinatar section of Murcia Today.