First weekend in Estepona

With a population of almost 70,000, our new home-base of Estepona is a town renowned for its beaches and micro-climate. Surrounded by mountains and the sea, it boasts over 325 days of sunshine a year. Popular as a predominately Spanish tourist destination, it remains one of the few coastal towns in the area that has successfully managed to retain its charm and character.
As mentioned in my first blog, the Paseo Mediterranean is a great place to walk along the seafront. Covering the whole of the main beach - La Rada - and beyond, it’s an area of numerous activities. It’s a place to enter and exit the almost 3km stretch of sand and ocean - and it’s well serviced for that purpose - with toilets, showers, children’s play areas, restaurants and cafés. In addition, this attractive promenade which has an abundance of plants and flowers, is not only a perfect place to stroll, bike and jog - it also serves as a meeting place for all ages. With “sails” for shade, there are plenty of benches on which to sit and admire the ocean - or perhaps spot some of the wide assortment of birds and migratory animals that inhabit this area.
If all goes to plan, this seafront Paseo - when completed - will run 50km, connecting the towns of Estepona, Marbella and Mijas. Showcasing the great biodiversity within this Mediterranean region, it will provide a perfect way to travel between the large and small coastal towns.
We’ve enjoyed the charm of this promenade every day - one early morning when jet lag caused us to be awake early, we strolled a good part of it while watching sun-rise over the ocean....and craving a coffee, we discovered that cafés don’t open very early in this town (luckily we found one that did).
Another evening we sat and watched the sun go down - this time while enjoying a beer - no shortage of cafés to provide us with that beverage! Without any mist or cloud over the ocean, we could clearly see Gibraltar and the coastline of Africa. On the way home we stumbled upon another great use of this promenade - a fashion show was being given by a local store....with lots of younger women walking the catwalk, it was the more mature lady who received the largest applause - even more than the flamboyant M.C!
On Sunday morning in Estepona there’s a popular tourist market selling handicrafts, leather goods and clothing. Held in the Marina area, which is situated at the western end of the promenade, it seems to be “the” place to be between 9am-2pm, especially for British tourists and ex-pats. With people pouring in from towns and villages in the area, it gets pretty crowded - it’s probably a bit of a nightmare in summer! Having finally conquered our jet-lag, we enjoyed pottering around the stalls - which seem to have some decent quality stuff, but we held off buying anything until we’ve investigated other markets...lol!
The marina itself is a great place for seeing lots of large boats & yachts that are moored there. There’s also a wide variety of bars, cafés and restaurants, making it a lively place to “hang out.”
The fishing port is just west of the marina, but unfortunately no fish are sold there - except to wholesalers & restaurants.....we did however see some fish hanging up outside one of the fishermen’s cabins - and a couple were emerging with a wrapped parcel....buying fish, perhaps?! ****Note to travellers - all shops are closed on Sundays*****
After the market we went in search of Playa del Cristo - not hard to find as it’s just around the headland. With a breakwater on its east side, this curved bay is a naturally protected beach, with calm shallow water that’s great for children and adults who like a quiet and peaceful setting.....although....all around this lovely oasis are signs of development, so not sure how long the “peaceful” part will remain!
We walked along the beach and then spent quite some time sitting on the outside deck of one of the two chiringuitos (small, casual beach bar/restaurants) that serve the thirsty and/or the peckish. We enjoyed cold beers and stared out towards “the Rock” and Africa.
Later that night we took a stroll around the busy old town (everyone stays out late, especially on weekends) and sampled the local gelato - quite the perfect Sunday :)