In the north, just over the border from Murcia, is San Juan de los Terreros village with quiet beaches and coves which extend 15 km south to Villaricos, at the foot of the Sierra Almagrera. Golf, a marina port, watersports and beaches have made this area a popular choice for both holidays and for property sales. Between Palomares and Vera Playa is one of Europes largest nudist resorts, Vera Natura, with over 2 km of naturist blue flag beach, a naturist residential zone of over 2,000 apartments and a 4 star hotel. Beach developments extend along the coast in an almost unbroken line from Vera Playa and Puerto Rey to Garrucha, a thriving fishing town and port with a smart beachfront and a clean beach along the coast to Mojacar Playa: over 5 km of beaches lined with bars, hotels, restaurants, shops and cafes. Mojacar Playa has very few high rise developments and the majority of homes and holiday rentals, stacked on the hills of the Sierra Cabrera which lead down to the beaches, have a sea view. Inland within short driving distance of the beaches, the Sierra Cabrera shelter the smaller historic towns of Mojacar Pueblo, Turre, Cortijo Grande, Los Gallardos, Bedar and Antas. Macenas, a few km south of Mojacar, is isolated by rocky headlands and virgin beaches which continue 10 km south to Carboneras; a working town, marina and port with clean beaches. Despite having Europes largest water desalination plant, a large thermo electric plant and cement factory, both the level of urban development and the general atmosphere is less frenetic. A few km south of Carboneras is Playa de los Muertos, one of Spains finest beaches, in the beautiful Cabo de Gata Natural Park.

The beaches, towns, hotels, holiday properties, beachbars, campsites, restaurants and golf resorts of the Mojacar Area have been made popular by the reliably warm and sunny weather and cheap flights to Almeria airport.