Guardamar sits between Torrevieja and Santa Pola, at the mouth of the Segura. What makes it different from every other town on this coast is the pine forest: 800 hectares of it, planted over the dunes from 1900 onwards, running right down to the sand.
The dunes and pine forest
It is not a natural wood — it is a piece of engineering. By the end of the 1800s the sand was advancing eight metres a year and burying the town. In 1897 the engineer Francisco Mira y Botella started a dune-fixing scheme that planted more than 600,000 pines, palms and eucalyptus over thirty years.
There is a 6.5 km circular walk through it, flat and shaded, passing the Phoenician port city of La Fonteta and a 10th-century Islamic monastery complex that is the only one of its kind on the peninsula. Free to walk.
The beaches
Eleven kilometres of sand, and quieter than Torrevieja or Orihuela Costa because the forest keeps the development back from the shore. Playa Centro is the busy one with everything on hand; the beaches inside the protected area — Tossals, Vivers, Montcaio — are emptier, with the pines right behind for shade at lunchtime.
What else
The castle ruins above the town are worth the climb for the view over the river mouth and the coast. The marina at the Segura mouth is a good spot for a walk at dusk, and there are mosquitoes there in summer, so bring repellent.
Getting here
35 km from Alicante airport, about 30 minutes. Torrevieja is 15 minutes south, Santa Pola 20 minutes north. We pick up here for everything we run.
Common questions
Is the forest walk suitable for children?
Yes — flat, shaded and on compacted sand and forest tracks. You can do the short section to the monastery and turn back.
Best time of year?
October to May for walking. In summer, go early or after six.
Message us on WhatsApp — we will come back with availability and the final price.