Holiday Villa in Agua Amarga - Cabo de Gata, Costa Almeria, Spain.

Surrounding Area:

The Cabo de Gata Natural Park offers plenty of scope for walking, bird-watching, golfing, horse-riding, sea fishing (from the beach) and various water activities. Clear waters make the area excellent for diving/snorkelling. There are dive centres in Aqua Amarga and Carboneras. Kayaks and pedal boats are available from the beach in Agua Amarga . There are other excellent beaches nearby. The small town of Carboneras (8 kms) has several supermarkets, bars/restaurants, a weekly market on Thursdays, and excellent beaches. It's a working town with a cement works, power station, desalination plant, fishing & commercial ports. There is also a 24 hour medical centre (Urgencias/Centro de Salud ) which can be used in an emergency on production of a European Health Card and/or your passport.

Further north, via a coastal road with spectacular views, is the more developed area of Mojacar with plenty of restaurants, bars, beaches and thousands of Brits. Garrucha & Vera are further north and both have well developed centres and beaches.

Golf:

There are 4 courses in the area. Cortijo Grande , Cabreras near Turre, in poor condition with only 9 holes playable but cheap. Desert Springs at Vera , information obtainable from web site www.almanzora,com. Or e-mail: desertsprings@almanzora.com. Valle d¹Este is located at Vera . The nearest is Marina de la Torre on Mojacar front.

Fiestas:

There is a Fiesta in Carboneras in mid June and in Agua Amarga at the end of July. Other nearby towns have Fiestas which will be advertised locally at the time.

Language:

Businesses in area are predominantly Spanish speaking, although some of the hotels/bars/restaurants in Agua Amarga speak English. Carboneras is almost totally Spanish speaking but sometimes you will find an English section in the Menus. The Spanish people are nearly always friendly and do their best to help but a phrase book is definitely useful.

Access to Other Areas:

The area is well located for trips to both coast & mountains. Further afield are Almeria (45 minutes ), Granada/Alhambra ( 2 hours ), Cartagena ( 1.5 hours ). The Sierra Nevada skiing area can be reached in approx. 2.5 hours and the Algarve , Portugal in about 5.

Villa rental price, booking and further details,

available on request from John and Sheila Mercott via e-mail:

sheandjc@msn.com