Tabarca island from Alicante and Santa Pola
Ferry times, prices and the last boat back — checked in August 2026, not copied from a brochure. Written from Santa Pola, which is the port the boat actually leaves from.
How do you get to Tabarca from Alicante?
You go to Santa Pola first. That is the part most people searching from abroad get wrong, and it is an easy mistake: you landed in Alicante, so you look for a boat in Alicante. There is one — and there is one from Torrevieja too — but both are much longer crossings for more money. Santa Pola is 20 km down the coast and the island sits right in front of it.
| Leaving from | Crossing | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Pola | 15 min speedboat 25–30 min catamaran | Shortest and cheapest. The one below. |
| Alicante city | Considerably longer | Only if you are staying in Alicante with no car. |
| Torrevieja | Considerably longer | Same reasoning. |
We only publish timetables for the Santa Pola crossing, because that is the one we have checked ourselves. If you sail from Alicante or Torrevieja, confirm times with the operator directly rather than trusting a number you read here.
Getting from Alicante airport to the port
- 🚌There is a direct bus — but read the times before you count on it.Vectalia line 8, Santa Pola – Aeropuerto – San Vicente, €3.85 one way. It exists, it is cheap, and it runs three times a day on weekdays, once on Saturday, and not at all on Sundays and public holidays. Summer timetable, valid 20 June to 6 September 2026:Land at 11:00 on a Tuesday and the next one is at 15:20. Land on a Sunday and there is none. For most arrivals, the honest answer is that the bus is not the option.
Leaves airport Arrives Santa Pola Days 09:10 09:50 Mon–Fri 15:20 16:00 Mon–Fri 21:25 22:05 Mon–Fri 08:30 09:10 Saturday only - 🚗Uber works.Pick-up is on level 0, in the arrivals area, following the directions in the Uber app. Taxis are at the same level.
- 🚋There is no tram. Really.People search for this a lot, so it is worth saying plainly: the Alicante TRAM does not go to Santa Pola. It runs north, towards El Campello, Benidorm and Dénia. If a page tells you otherwise, it is wrong.
Tabarca ferry timetable
Checked in August 2026 against Transtabarca. Several operators run the route and each has its own times, so confirm the day before: some sailings are weekends only, and bad weather cancels crossings.
Departures from Santa Pola
Returns from Tabarca
The last boat back leaves Tabarca at 20:50. Put it in your phone before you sit down to lunch. The island is half a kilometre long, and being stranded on it is still being stranded.
Return fares
| Ticket | Online | At the kiosk |
|---|---|---|
| Adult (8 and over) | €9 | €10 |
| Child, 4 to 8 | €8 | €9 |
| Under 4 | Free | Free |
| Dogs | Free | Free |
Booking online saves €1 a head, but the real saving is the queue at the kiosk, which in July and August is the part that hurts. The regular season runs March to October; outside those months the service thins out and it is worth phoning before you turn up at the port.
Speedboat or catamaran?
- 🛥️The catamarans (“tabarqueras”)Glass-bottomed, stable, and the better choice with children, a pushchair, or if you get seasick. 25–30 minutes, including a pause over the marine reserve. Same €9 return online.
- 🚤The speedboats15 minutes and a bumpier ride, which some people come for. Same price — but a detail almost nobody mentions: the speedboat fare only applies until 14:30. You will be coming back on a catamaran.
Go to the fishing port, not the marina. Avenida de los Baños, 1. They are different parts of the same harbour, and in August — in a hurry, with the car park full — that mix-up costs you the boat.
What is the Tabarca water taxi?
Same 15-minute crossing, so do not expect a different boat or a different experience. What changes is the ticket: the return is open, which lets you stay on the island for several days instead of coming back the same evening. It runs around €11 a head against €9 for the standard day return.
In other words: it is the ticket you want if you are sleeping on Tabarca. For a day trip it adds nothing and costs more.
Check water taxi times and availabilityThings to do on Tabarca
Snorkelling, which is the real reason to come
Tabarca was Spain’s first marine reserve. Fishing is strictly banned, and the posidonia meadows around the island hold bream, sargo, starfish and the occasional grouper swimming a few metres from the shore. Bring a mask — you will regret it if you do not.
Bring water shoes as well. The good coves, round the back of the village in the nature reserve, are rock and shingle. Flip-flops do not work there.
The beaches
The main beach, right where you step off the boat, is not fine sand — it is a mix of sand, gravel and pebbles. It has the facilities, and in July and August it is packed. Walk round the village into the reserve and the coves are empty by comparison.
The walled village
Almost everyone stays on the sand or at a table. The walled village is Genoese in origin and is the most photogenic part of the island, and it takes twenty minutes to walk.
Eating on Tabarca: book before you board
The island dish is caldero: a rice cooked in fish stock with a ñora pepper sofrito, served in two parts — first a platter of rock fish with alioli, then the rice cooked in that stock. It is very good and it is not a tourist invention.
Reserve a table before you get on the boat. Days ahead in high summer. Turn up without a booking and you will be eating a reheated sandwich, or paying for whatever the one place with a free table is serving at 15:30.
Budget €30–40 a head for a proper caldero lunch.
Can you stay overnight on Tabarca?
You can, and the island after the last boat leaves is a completely different place — around twenty properties, so it books out early in summer. You will want the water taxi ticket rather than the day return.
The alternative most people choose is to sleep in Santa Pola and catch the 08:30, which puts you on a half-empty island for a couple of hours before the day trippers arrive.
Some links on this page 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 ferry timetable above is free information and the last boat still leaves at 20:50.