ReservaSantaPolaEspañol

Santa Pola, without the guesswork

Most English pages about this town are translated brochure copy. These are not. They are written from Santa Pola, and they tell you when the answer is no — when the last boat has gone, when the bus does not run, and when a beach is not worth the walk.

Eight questions below, answered before you have to click anything.

How do I get here from Alicante airport?

It is 15 km and 15–20 minutes by car — one of the closest destinations to the airport on the whole Costa Blanca. There is a direct bus, Vectalia line 8, at €3.85, but it runs three times a day on weekdays, once on Saturday and never on Sundays. And there is no tram, whatever you may have read.

Bus times, taxi prices and the tram question

Where should I stay?

In the town itself if you have no car: it is flat, you can walk all of it, the beaches are on its edge and the Tabarca boat leaves from the port in the middle. Gran Alacant, 7 km away, is a hillside development with no old town — good value, but you will want a car. There are roughly 700 places to stay in Santa Pola, so in July and August book early rather than well.

See places to stay

Where do I park without getting a ticket?

This is the one that catches people out. The handiest place for the jetty is Avenida Pérez Ojeda — and the bays there are angled, so you are expected to reverse in. Park nose-first and a fine is close to guaranteed. In a hire car it reaches you weeks later through the rental company, with a fee on top.

The rest of the jetty logistics

How do I get to Tabarca, and is it worth it?

Fifteen minutes by speedboat or 25 on the glass-bottomed catamaran, €9 return booked online. It leaves from the fishing port at Avenida de los Baños 1 — not the marina, and in August that mix-up costs you the boat. The single most important number: the last boat back leaves the island at 20:50.

Full timetable, prices and what to do there

Which beach, and where can I snorkel?

The town beaches — Gran Playa and Levante — are long sand and shallow water: good for swimming with children, poor for snorkelling. The rock is under the cape, at the Calas del Este. But the fish are on Tabarca, and not by luck: it is Spain's first marine reserve and fishing is banned there.

Snorkelling on Tabarca

What should I eat?

Caldero. It is not a paella: it arrives in two courses, first a platter of rock fish in a ñora-pepper broth with alioli, then the rice cooked in that same broth. Santa Pola is a working fishing port, so the fish on the menu was on a boat this morning. If you want it on Tabarca, budget €30–40 a head and book your table before you board the boat.

When is the street market?

Mondays and Saturdays, 8:00 to 14:00 — two days a week, not one, and most visitors only know about the Saturday. If either day falls on a public holiday there is no market and it is not moved to another day. Around 440 stalls.

Do I need to hire a car?

For Santa Pola itself, no — and in July and August parking is genuinely hard work. It changes the trip if you are staying in Gran Alacant, if you want Elche and the salt lagoons, or if you land on a Sunday, when the airport bus does not run at all.

Compare hire cars at the airport

And the question behind all the others

Is Santa Pola actually worth visiting? Yes, for most people — with one clear exception that we put at the top of that page rather than the bottom, because it is the thing that sends people home disappointed.

Read the honest answer

All the English guides

Tabarca islandFerry times, prices and the last boat back, checked in August 2026. Plus how to reach the port from the airport.From the airportThe direct bus is €3.85 but runs three times a day and never on Sundays. There is no tram. Uber works.Airport to Gran Alacant€2.50 and 30 minutes by bus, three a day and none on Sundays. And the thing nobody says: the beach is at the bottom of the hill.Bus to ElcheLine 255A, about 35 minutes, up to 28 departures a day. Where the real timetable lives, and the two night buses on summer Fridays and Saturdays.BeachesSix stretches of coast and they are not interchangeable. The western ones are so shallow you walk tens of metres to reach waist depth — which is why families come back.Where to staySix areas, and they are not the same holiday. If you flew in without hiring a car, that decides it before anything else.Things to doEvery bookable activity with price, length and rating shown before you click. From €9 and half an hour to a whole afternoon under sail — and not one needs a car.ParkingNo pay-and-display anywhere in the town, and three free council car parks with live space counters. Plus the harbour bay you have to reverse into, which in a hire car costs you weeks later.The dog beachThe only beach in Santa Pola that takes dogs, and it is 15 m wide. The council's nine rules, in English for the first time — including the vaccination card you must carry.The half marathon24 January 2027, and the 10K the evening before. Entry prices go up on a fixed ladder, and the airport bus does not run on the Sunday you race.Is it worth visiting?Yes, with one clear exception. What the town is really like, what it costs next to Benidorm, and who should go elsewhere.

Times and prices on this site carry the date they were checked. Some links are affiliate links — if you book through them we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we tell you: the €3.85 bus is the cheapest way in and it earns us nothing.