Last summer my family and I spent the day on Tabarca Island. We took a pleasure boat from Santa Pola, which I believe leaves every hour, for around ten euros each. There are ferries from other marinas in the Costa Blanca including Alicante (although it costs more from there).

The pleasure boat trip there was a highlight for me; it had a glass bottom which the children thoroughly enjoyed going below deck & seeing the marine life, which is abundant. Even standing outside enjoying the breeze was great in the hot August heat. The pleasure boat is pretty large (you should not get sea sick) with tables and chairs inside with a cafe selling refreshments. The voyage took round about half an hour.

When we arrived we stopped at the café which overlooks the boat harbour & had a bite to eat, waiting for the rest of the family who missed the ferry! After meeting up with everyone, & settling the bill, we took a long walk all round the island.

Tabarca island is rocky and dusty, & not too sizable (there aren’t any homes, or roads; it is simply a tourist attraction). There can be seen however, a few ruins which I believe date back to the 18th century. After walking off our lunch, we found a great little secluded rocky beach, which we had to ourselves for the whole day.

The heat was intensive, so I my advice would be to go to Tabarca with supplies. We had umbrellas, sun cream, bottles of water, and a picnic. We also took snorkeling gear, and had lots of fun spotting the surrounding marina life as there were huge numbers of beautiful fish.

Tabarca Island is a relaxing day trip, there is fairly little to do which in my opinion on a weekend is a good thing. It can be a less expensive day out, if you bundle a picnic. The restaurant we went to was not great so this is what I would do the next time we pay a visit.

On the ferry trip back to Santa Pola many of the tourists were sunburnt, as the sun was exhaustive reflecting off the rocks all day without the possible choice of popping indoors, although thankfully I was not. We sat inside the ferry with salty frazzled hair, and enjoy a chilled diet coke! When we got back to Santa Pola we stopped on the way back to the apartment for some Spanish Tapas, deep fried squid, olives, prawns, & a jug of beer, a perfect end to a perfect day.

Tabarca Island is a wonderful alternative to the swimming pool for a day out on your summer vacation to the Alicante region of the Costa Blanca, Spain.

Further travel advice and tourist information on Tabarca or Alicante, can be found at Tabarca Island