Holiday and tourist information for Tabarca Island - Alicante - Spain. |
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TABARCA ISLAND. |
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![]() Another of Spain's hidden gems is Tabarca Island ... an island off the coast of Santa Pola in the Spanish Costa Blanca ... a place which some people have the impression of being a barren island with not much to see or do ... but an island which, if those people bothered to take the time to see ... would transform that ignorance and prove itself to be one of the best days out in the Alicante Province ... Tabarca Island is really a terrific place to visit. |
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Tabarca Island off the Costa Blanca Alicante - Spain. |
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Spain's Tabarca Island can be reached by boat from Alicante, Santa Pola, Torrevieja, Guardamar or Benidorm - the isle lies in the mediterranean 8km from Santa Pola harbour and 19.5km from Alicante marina - and boat trips to the island are available from all five places. Tabarca Island is only 2km long and 360m wide at its widest point, with a maximum altitude of only 15m. During the high season June, July and August Tabarca Island can get very busy and the frequency of the boat trips increase ... from Santa Pola which is closest to Tabarca Island the boat trip takes only 24 minutes and costs around 14 euro each for the return trip to the island on foot. Tabarca Island belongs to the municipality of Alicante and in the 2007 census there were only 92 inhabitants - it is the largest and only inhabited isle in the Valencian Community, the whole population live only on the west side of the island. The area to the east side of the Costa Blanca's Tabarca Island is barren apart from the tower, lighthouse and the cemetery, detailed on the Tabarca map below. In past history the isle was inhabited by the Greeks and Romans, the full history of Tabarca Island is charted on the Wikipedia. |
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PHOTOS & IMAGES OF TABARCA ISLAND. |
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| The Google map image below shows the Panoramio photos of Tabarca Island which have been uploaded. There are more photos below from our trip to Tabarca Island. |
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COSTA BLANCA'S - TABARCA ISLAND - REEFS, SKUBA DIVING & SNORKELING. |
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Ferry boat trips from Santa Pola to Tabarca Island.All photographs are from our boat trip to Tabarca Island from Santa Pola in Nov 2008. |
GETTING TO TABARCA ISLAND .... |
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| As the catamaran from Santa Pola closes in on Tabarca Island, the boat will almost come to a halt ... it will be announced that the entrance to the glass bottom section is open ... make your way down there and you will see why taking one of the "Super Visión Submarina" catamaran's over to Tabarca Island is highly recommended. |
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| Once on the Island of Tabarca -- what to do ? The first thing to do is check the return trip timetable from Tabarca Island ... and make sure that you have enough time to explore the whole island ... otherwise you will be kicking yourself and planning a return journey to the island. ![]() Make sure to leave early enough and give yourself around 3-4 hours for a leisurely stroll around the whole of Tabarca Island ... we did a tour of the island ... including stops for photos, sandwiches (although there are about 15 restaurants on the isle) and two cups of coffee in 4 and 3/4 hours (with time to spare) ... 4 hours should be ample time to cover the whole of Tabarca Island. TABARCA ISLAND ... PART ONE (West Side) - The Living Quarter ... The inhabited (west side) of Tabarca is simply terraced rows of old (and some new) town houses ... here you will find the church (Iglesia de San Pedro y San Pablo) currently (Nov 2008) undergoing a massive refurbishment which according to the signs will cost a staggering 1,196,695€, looking at the footpaths (no cars on Tabarca) between the houses this money could well be spent elsewhere ... but this is Spain (part of Alicante) ... and religion is high on the agenda, and there is no doubting that the church will be transformed into an immaculate monument for Tabarca Island in a few years. There approximately 16 restaurants on this side of Tabarca (not all open all year round), there is a kids play area and the public toilets (a must if you are to walk around the island) are marked on our Tabarca Island map above. We could find only two small hotels on this side of Tabarca Island ... Hotel Casa del Gobernador / Governador (2 star) and Hostal Masín (1 star) Phone 965 960 509. ![]() TABARCA ISLAND ... PART TWO (East Side) - The Island itself ... Footpaths around the eastern side of Tabarca run on either side of its coastline ... from which you can see the smaller scattered islands, and the bays of Tabarca ... an island which is bigger than one may first assume, looking at it from a distance. On this side of Tabarca Island is the San José Tower built in 1789 (a look out tower for invaders of the isle) and the cemetery right at the far end of Tabarca. Tabarca Islands old lighthouse is also on this same side ... the lighthouse is fenced off completely ... a pity it has to be fenced as much as it is ... there is no way to get close to the lighthouse and the fencing stretches right to the footpath on the southern side of the island. As for wildlife on Tabarca Island ... its limited to seagulls, cormorants, sparrows and skylarks in the main ... although I did spot some kind of hawk briefly (a rare sight in Spain) which seemed to head for the islands lighthouse. ![]()
The ferry over (from Santa Pola) is quick & interesting in itself ... the views on and from Tabarca Island are magnificent ... The island itself could benefit from massive investment (to spice up the west side - living quarter) and indeed this has already started in some places ... the money being spent on the church (Iglesia de San Pedro y San Pablo) seems excessive when you look around and think what this money could do to Tabarca (there was one place on the east side of the isle, with building rubble just left on the coast when we were there - sad & un-excusable - photo right).There is no doubt that Tabarca Island will be developed (spruced up somewhat) in the coming years, but even as it stands, and no matter what it will become ... Tabarca Island is a first class Spanish day out for all. |
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