Almerimar
©
Almerimar

Almerimar

Purpose-built Costa de Almería beach resort arranged around a marina, golf courses, and wind-sport beaches

Almerimar is a purpose-built beach resort on the Costa de Almería, developed in the 1970s around a large marina about 30 kilometres west of Almería city. It is not the Spain of whitewashed villages and Moorish heritage — it is a deliberately constructed leisure development, with wide grid streets, golf courses, and a marina full of leisure craft. What it offers is equally deliberate: reliable sunshine, a good Blue Flag beach, and a calm that package resort towns elsewhere have long since traded away.

The marina is the resort's actual heart. Several hundred boats are moored here year-round, and the restaurants and bars around the harbour cater to a mix of European yacht crews and land-based visitors who prefer the marina atmosphere to the beach. Windsurfing and kitesurfing are the sports that bring serious practitioners — the consistent levante wind that blows down the coast makes Almerimar one of the better wind sport locations in southern Spain.

A few kilometres west along the coast, the Castillo de Guardias Viejas stands on a headland above the sea: a 16th-century watchtower and fortress built to watch for Barbary Coast pirates. The interior is mostly gone but the structure remains, and the walk out to the headland along the coast gives the best views in the area.

Guide

Getting There

Almerimar is about 30 kilometres west of Almería city. Almería Airport (LEI) receives direct flights from most major northern European cities, particularly in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands; the budget carriers have made Almería consistently accessible from these markets. The airport is compact and efficient; car rental desks are at the arrivals hall and the drive to Almerimar on the A-7 takes about 30 minutes.

Without a car, a taxi from the airport costs around €35-45 and takes the same time. There is no direct bus service from the airport to Almerimar. From Almería city, buses run along the coast to El Ejido (the nearest town of any size), from where local buses or a taxi cover the remaining distance to the resort. Almería city has a train station connecting to Granada and Madrid; the journey from Madrid takes just under 5 hours on the medium-speed line.

A car is useful but not essential for the resort itself — everything in Almerimar is flat and walkable — but necessary for exploring the surrounding area, including the coast west toward Roquetas and east toward Almería and the Cabo de Gata natural park.

Guide

When to Go

Almerimar is warm enough to be pleasant from March through November, and mild enough in December through February to be used as a winter base by northern Europeans seeking reliable sunshine. The peak summer months of July and August bring the highest temperatures — regularly over 35°C — which can make midday beach hours uncomfortable for those not accustomed to the heat, though the sea is at its warmest and the evenings are long and balmy.

The shoulder seasons of April-June and September-October are arguably the best times: temperatures in the high 20s, no summer crowds, the sea warm from the summer's heat, and the resort operating fully without being at capacity. The levante wind season peaks in summer, making June through August the best months for windsurfing and kitesurfing.

Winter (December-February) is the secret of the Costa de Almería: while the rest of northern Spain is cold and wet, Almería has an average of 15-18°C in January and sunshine most days. The beach is too cold for most people, but the golf courses are in use and the restaurants are open. This is when long-term visitors come for weeks at a time.