Águilas beaches: Playa de la Cola

A semi-urban beach near to Calabardina 

The Playa de la Cola is a long, narrow, south-facing beach in the municipality of Águilas, and is classified as “semi-urban” due to its location just outside the western edge of the village of Calabardina, lying within the pedanía of "Cope".

The beach is 1050 meters long and an average of 10 metres wide, running along a mixture of scrubland and semi-urban land, itself a combination of shingle, sand and the unavoidable posidonia seagrass deposits which inevitably form on wild beaches.

Calabardina is a collection of permanent and holiday homes, with local facilities and is hugely popular with holidaymakers due to its coastal location and its "out of town" air, tending to attarct those who prefer the more rural and wild coastal beaches, yet enjoy a few home comforts at the same time.

Although the beach is cleaned regularly during the summer there are few facilities here, with the installations being limited to rubbish bins and an attractive beach bar/restaurant which opens in the summer months between the sea and the RM-D15 road. The surface of the beach varies from sand to pebbles and rocks depending on the exact location along this one-kilometre stretch of the Águilas coastline, and with parking not a problem and the water as clear as it is all along this part of the shoreline of the Mediterranean it is a popular spot for swimmers and sunbathers during the summer.

The bathing area is marked off by buoys 50 metres from the shore during the summer, avoiding any problems with boats, windsurfers or jetskis coming too close to the beach itself.

At the eastern end of the Playa de la Cola the bars and restaurants of Calabardina are just a short walk away, but for those who lay down their beach towels further away a short drive into the village will be necessary if any shopping is required.

How to get there and parking

Calabardina is located on the RM-D15 road in the south-western corner of the municipality of Águilas, and can be reached from Águilas itself by heading eastwards out of town on the RM-D14 from the junction on the ring road just north of the Águilas Plaza shopping centre. 

Those approaching from other directions should also head for the RM-D14 road. From Lorca take the RM-11 motorway south towards Águilas and head east on the ring road, and from Cartagena and Mazarrón take the exit at kilometre 866 on the AP-7 toll motorway and follow the signs towards Calabardina and Cabo Cope. 

The bus service which runs between Calabardina and Águilas provides an alternative means of access, and for those cycling along the Águilas coastline this is a popular stopping off point. 

Parking is off-road alongside the RM-D15, with room for around 100 cars, and even in summer it is normally not hard to find a space, although logically the area nearest to the beach bar can become rather crowded. 

This is the twenty second beach in the series of 36 Águilas beaches which run along the 28 kilometres of Águilas coast, working from the Almería coastline in the west down to the Lorca municipality and offer both urban and wild beaches.

Click for full list of Águilas beaches

More information about Águilas including beaches, what to see, what's on and tourist information can be found on ÁGUILAS TODAY