The Costa Blanca North
The Costa Blanca (White Coast) refers to the over 200 kilometres of Mediterranean coastline belonging to the provinces of Valencia and Alicante in the Comunidad Valenciana, Spain.
The Costa Blanca North coast starts around the La Safor region,just south of the towns of Gandia and Oliva. This area is full of orange groves and majestic mountains in the background. The sandy beaches are excellent and uncrowded, with Gandia beach seemingly going on for miles and miles! Going inland in La Safor are various towns and villages, each with its own character and unique “Spanishness”. One of the main inland towns is Xativa / Jativa a beautiful town with a superb castle.
Moving south along the Mediterranean coast from the La Safor region, you come to Denia which has a marina and port from which you can get a ferry across to Ibiza and Majorca. On some days you can even see Ibiza from the Denia coast, but even better are the views from the Montgo, the mountain that separates Denia from Javea.
Javea, with its sandy beach, is popular with tourists, main because of its fantastic beach, which is nearly always calm due to its location. Going inland from Denia is the Jalon Valley, famous for its vineyards and blossoms, great for a drive when the blossom on the almond trees is out.
Further along the coast is the town of Moraira, a smaller town with a good sandy beach.
Further along the coast the beaches become more rocky and the coastline becomes rugged, until you come to Calpe with its two wide sandy beaches. Originally a small fishing village, Calpe is now a busy town with high rise hotels and apartments blocks dominating the skyline. Calpe has the famous rock called the Penon de Ifach which rises from the sea, which is a local nature habitat and walkers and climber paradise!
Heading further south we come across Altea and Alfaz del Pi, with the urbanisations clinging on the side of the hills. These are the last towns until you reach the biggest tourist resort on the Costa Blanca.
Benidorm is huge with masses of high rise skyscrapers, which grew with the increase in the popular “package holiday” boom of the 70s and eighties. The three beaches are excellent and the nightlife is legendary. There are plenty of hotels, cafes, entertainment, shopping and a number of theme parks, like Terra Mitica, for the family. The contrast between the population between the winter and summer months is astonishing. In the winter time, Benidorm becomes a haven for the retired and elderly, with afternoon tea dancing in the many bars along the promenade. In the summer, the bars fill up with the sun and fun seekers.
After Benidorm the coast becomes flat with mile after mile of sandy beaches.
