A fishing village, a lighthouse and some of Europe’s best diving

Cabo de Palos: Kayak Sightseeing Tour with Snorkeling

The most-reviewed Cabo de Palos activity on GetYourGuide. A guide leads you by kayak along the coves and cliffs of the cape, then you stop to snorkel over the posidonia meadows and rocky reefs of the Cabo de Palos and Islas Hormigas Marine Reserve. No previous kayaking experience is needed in calm conditions.

• Paddle below the cliffs and the lighthouse
• Snorkel stop over the reserve’s seabed
• Kayak, paddle and snorkel gear provided

Swimming in the Cabo de Palos Marine Reserve

A guided open-water swim from cove to cove inside the marine reserve. You swim in a small group with a guide who knows the conditions, over rocks and seagrass where wrasse, bream and sometimes octopus are easy to spot. It is a new listing with few reviews so far, all of them excellent.

• Open-water swimming with a guide
• Coves with very clear water
• A protected natural setting

La Manga: Scuba Diving Baptism

A first dive with an instructor, in a safe and controlled environment, with all the gear and photos included. This is the bookable way to try scuba near Cabo de Palos if you have no certificate: the famous seamounts of the reserve are reserved for qualified divers, but a try-dive shows you what the fuss is about.

• No certification needed
• Full equipment included
• Photos of your first dive

Cabo de Palos: Calblanque & Coves Kayak Tour with Guide

A guided paddle south from Cabo de Palos along the protected coast of Calblanque Regional Park, past volcanic cliffs, into a sea cave and on to small beaches reached only on foot or by water. Reviews are mixed (3.7 out of 5 when we checked), mostly depending on sea conditions on the day, so pick a calm morning.

• Paddle towards Calblanque Regional Park
• Volcanic cliffs and a sea cave
• Stops at beaches you cannot drive to

Cabo de Palos & La Manga E-Bike Experience

An easy guided ride by electric bike around Cabo de Palos and the first stretch of La Manga, with stops at coves and viewpoints over both the Mediterranean and the Mar Menor. A new listing with no reviews yet when we checked, so treat it as unproven.

• Electric bike and local guide
• Coves, the lighthouse and two seas
• Sunset departures available

Mar Menor 5 Islands Route

The best-reviewed boat trip in the area: a relaxed cruise across the Mar Menor that skirts all five of its volcanic islands. The lagoon is shallow and sheltered, so the trip is smooth even when the Mediterranean side is rough.

• All five islands of the lagoon
• Calm, sheltered water
• Easy for children and non-swimmers

La Manga: Route across Two Seas to Isla Grosa and Farallón

A classic boat crosses the Mar Menor, passes through the Estacio channel that cuts La Manga in two and heads out into the Mediterranean to Isla Grosa and the Farallón islet, a protected seabird colony. The only trip here that shows you both seas in one outing.

• Sail on the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean
• Pass through the Estacio channel
• Isla Grosa and the Farallón islet

Cartagena: Roman Theater, Forum, Castle and Panoramic Lift

One ticket for four of Cartagena’s main sights: the Roman Theatre and its museum, the Roman Forum Museum, the panoramic lift and the Concepción Castle on the hill above the port. With close to 900 reviews it is by far the most-booked product within reach of Cabo de Palos, and the obvious choice for a windy or cloudy day.

• Roman Theatre Museum
• Roman Forum Museum
• Panoramic lift and Concepción Castle

Cabo de Palos & Islas Hormigas Marine Reserve

Some of the best diving in Europe, minutes from the harbour

A chain of underwater seamounts running out from the cape to the Hormigas islets, protected since 1995. Big dusky groupers, walls of barracuda and visibility that often passes 20 metres have made it one of the Mediterranean’s most admired dive areas. Diver numbers are limited by daily quotas, arranged through the dive centres in the village.

Cabo de Palos Lighthouse

The stone tower that has marked the cape since 1865

A 51-metre grey stone lighthouse on the rocky headland at the tip of the cape, first lit in 1865 and still working. The walk up to its base gives the best view in the area: the coves below, the Hormigas islets out to sea and the whole length of La Manga to the north.

Coves & Beaches

Rocky snorkelling coves and one long sandy beach

The cape is ringed with small coves of dark rock and clear water — Cala Túnez, Cala Flores, Cala Fría beneath the lighthouse, Cala Reona at the edge of Calblanque — and, to the north, the long sandy Playa de Levante. Bring a mask: the snorkelling starts a few metres from the shore.

Calblanque Regional Park

Wild golden beaches with nothing built behind them

A protected stretch of coast immediately south-west of Cabo de Palos: long undeveloped beaches, fossil dunes, old salt pans with flamingos and dry hills with sea views. In high summer private cars are restricted and a shuttle bus runs to the beaches; the rest of the year you can drive in on the dirt tracks.

La Manga del Mar Menor

A 21-kilometre strip of sand between two seas

La Manga (“the sleeve”) is a narrow sandbar, built up with hotels and apartments since the 1960s, that separates the Mar Menor lagoon from the Mediterranean. Cabo de Palos sits at its southern end. Choose your sea by the wind: warm and flat on the lagoon side, waves and open water on the other, sometimes only a few minutes’ walk apart.

Cartagena

A Roman theatre, a naval port and streets of modernist façades

Half an hour from Cabo de Palos, Cartagena has more than two thousand years of history as a naval port: founded by the Carthaginians, taken by Rome, fortified by the Spanish navy. See the Roman Theatre, the National Museum of Underwater Archaeology (ARQVA), the modernist buildings of Calle Mayor and the view from the castle hill.