Cabo de Gata

San Jose


Playa de San Jose



Overlooking San Jose

The beachside town of San Jose, in the National Park known as Cabo de Gata, is my new favorite pueblo in Spain. This perfect-sized village with a central square with playground, surrounded by restaurants, coffee shops and gelatarias has access to some incredible beaches and amazing nearby hikes. Although we were there in the low-season, so things might be very different during the summer, the laid back pace was heavenly and the amount of commercial services (pescateria, panaderia, markets, gift shops, above mentioned establishments) was just right.

Abandoned gold mine

Restaurante La Isleta del Moro

Armed with a list of recommendations from friends we drove to the lighthouse at the end of Cabo de Gata and checked out the amazing vistas and spectacular waterfront. We even saw a windsurfer attempting to sail along Playa Cabo de Gata. We later drove north to the town of Rodalquilar to check out an abandoned gold mine (with no warning signs or fences mind you, so we could truly explore at will). And we ended the day at a well-known beach front seafood restaurant in La Isleta del Moro for dinner. Clark tried the grilled artichokes while the rest of us shared a seafood paella.



Margarita piza



Indiana Jones beach



We also discovered a lovely pizza/pasta bar where we had our best family-friendly meal in Spain (Italian I’m afraid) and went back several days later to repeat the exact same order. We spent our first full day at the beach, enjoying a remote area only a short drive from town but completely empty of people (we did meet a nice family with a 12 year old boy who was half English/half Spanish and enjoyed splashing in the waves and digging in the sand with our boys for a few hours). This particular beach, called Playa del Monsul, is also the backdrop to quite a few movies including one Indiana Jones film starring Sean Connery and Harrison Ford.



Wild West town



Yes, we this is in southern Spain

The next day we drove about an hour away to visit an Old Wild West town/movie set near the town of Tabernas used for quite a few films and shows over the years. It was strange to walk around an authentic western town complete with fake restaurants, banks, shops, corrals, and a horse drawn carriage and to watch a “show” in the local saloon acted by western cowboys and bar maids (speaking Spanish of course).

Caving in Sorbas

We then stopped at a local restaurant in the small village of Sorbas where we had a pub lunch and the boys tried their hands at pinball. Afterwards, we drove to Cuevas de Sorbas where we took an underground tour of some pretty spectacular caves that extend throughout the area. Thankfully our German tour guide was fluent in English and Spanish as well.  

Overlooking the Mediterrenean

Hike to lookout tower

On our last morning we hiked up to a medieval tower on a tall hilltop overlooking this beautiful coastal town. We had to do some steep climbing as there wasn’t a clear path but the hard work made our efforts all that more enjoyable.