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Travel guide with pictures and reviews for El Palmar

The beautiful beach of El Palmar is situated 65km from Tarifa in direction Cadiz on the Costa de la Luz.

The village is very small. Apart from some restaurants and holiday houses there isn't many buildings in El Palmar. Not a single huge hotel complex is going to take away the feeling of having found a paradise far beyond mass tourism.

Surfers know El Palmar for being the best spot of the entire Costa de la Luz with the most surfable days in the year average.

At the weekends the crowd can come up to 200-300 surfers in the water, as surfers come from near and far to spend their weekend in El Palmar. The beach is long enough to distribute this amount well over 3-4 kilometers.

The best days to catch waves are those when the Poniente wind switches to Levante Wind. The quality of the waves is amazing on those days and can reach up to 2,5m.

El Palmar is located between Conil de la Frontera and Caños de Meca. Those who spend their holidays in Palmar, will take home many beautiful impressions of this authentic piece of Andalusia.

Fun & leisure in El Palmar

Nightlife in El Palmar

Holidays in El Palmar have nothing to do with loud clubs and crowded bars spoiling the quiet atmosphere. Therefor, a proper nightlife doesn't exist here.

But in the nearby Conil de la Frontera or Caños de Meca, not more than a 10min drive from El Palmar, you'll find a party for sure.

After an exhausting day in the waves  there's nothing better than taking a good drink in one of the beach bars, listen to some chill out music and watch the sun go down.

Restaurants in El Palmar

The food in Atlanterra is fantastic! Try the typical Andalusian recipes for fresh local fish like the tuna and sword fish, the unbeatable "Jamon" of the black Andalusian pigs or a filet of the best Spanish beef. 

We recommend to join the food with a bottle of Rioja and for dessert a glass of sherry from the nearby vineyards arround Jerez de la Frontera.

Shopping in El Palmar 

In El Palmar you'll find some smaller supermarkets selling food and drinks, as well as sun protection, beach toys and newspapers.

If this offer is not big enough, you can drive to Conil de la Frontera (7km from El Palmar) where the shopping offer is a lot more versatile.

Day-trips from El Palmar

El Palmar is a perfect base for many interesting day-trips reachable within little time. We recommend to rent a car for your holidays in Andalusia, so you wouldn't have to depend on public transports.

Here just a few day-trip destinations, not more than 1 hour away from El Palmar:

Sports offers in El Palmar

The possibilities to do sports in El Palmar are endless. Windsurfing, kitesurfing, surfing, horseback riding, golf, mountainbiking and hiking are just a few examples. 

In Conil, 7km from El Palmar, there's also a well equipped fitness studio for all those who don't want to interrupt their fitness schedule while on holiday.

Thanks to the warm climate you can practice your favourite sports in El Palmar at any time of the year.

Surfing in El Palmar - Waves, spots and beaches

The area of El Palmar is considered to be the epicenter of surfing in Andalusia. The climate in winter time, when the waves are biggest, is always apropriate. 

The best days for surfing are when the Poniente wind changes to Levante wind. If you have never seen El Palmar, you wouldn't believe how smooth these 1,5 to 2,5m waves roll onto this beach.

The direction of the western swells, resulting from storms in the Atlantic, hit the Andalusian coast at El Palmar in a perfect angle. The weekends might be crowded with up to 300 surfers, under the week you have all the good peaks for yourself.

Several surf schools offer surf lessons and rent the surf material.

Oceano Surf School El Palmar

Golf in El Palmar - golf holidays, golf courses, golf lessons, greenfee

One of the finest golf resorts in Europe is the Dehesa Montenmedio Golf & Country Club. This beautiful golf course is not situated right by the sea, so you might prefer to reside in one of the comfortable holiday houses in El Palmar and drive the 17km to Montenmedio for playing golf.

Besides this one there are many more superb golf clubs around El Palmar. Combine the best of these clubs to the Andalusian golf vacation of your life time!

Thanks to the climate, the golf season never ends in Andalusia and even in January you can play in thin clothing.

Here some more recommendations for golf clubs in Andalusia:
 

1. Costa Ballena Golf
2. Sancti Petri Golf
3. Benalup Golf
4. Dehesa Montenmedio Golf

Beaches of El Palmar

El Palmar's beach is amongst the nicest of all Andalusia. The fine, white sand will come up to the expectations of the most demanding visitors. 

We recommend to all sun bathers to use enough sunscreen, because the Andalusian sun can cause a sun burn within a very short time. 

Who longs for cooling down in the heat, jumps into the crystal-clear waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which even in summer never exceeds the mark of 20 ° C mark. In winter time the temperature hardly drops below 16 °C. 
To water sports enthusiasts we always recommended to wear a wetsuit protecting from cooling out. 

The water is very clean and there is no danger of strong currents while swimming. Jellyfish and other unpleasant marine animals won't be encountered here.

Playa El Palmar

The beach of El Palmar extends over 5km along the coastline, which still isn't built up very much. Some bars and restaurants, 3 little supermarkets, 1 farmacy and some nice holiday houses put together this very small village. 
Apart from being the best surfing beach in the south of Andalusia, it is also a popular sun bathing beach with a bit of an international flair.

The wave season lasts form October til May. There are no stones in the water, apart from the northern end close to the Torre Nueva (the old lighthouse). With stronger swell you shouldn't go swimming here to avoid injuries from the stones. 
 

Climate & weather in El Palmar

While temperatures in the summer at the Andalusian coast are comfortably warm, it may be unbearably hot just 20km further in the country. Seville, for example, is used to have above 40°C every day while on the coast you only feel 25°C.

In winter time it hardly gets any colder than 16°C, except for the nights which could end up being around 10°C. The temperatures also depend on the wind direction: Levante brings warmer air from the land, Poniente brings cool air form the sea.

The average humidity in summer is around 30%, in the winter it is above 50%.

The probability of rain is very low apart from January til April. Statistically the Costa de la Luz provides more than 300 days of sunshine per year. In fact, rain is always welcome to assure the water supply in summer. 
 

Arrival to El Palmar

Useful information about El Palmar