The Best Beaches In Costa Brava

We're now in peak booking season, and as usual one of our big sellers are our Costa Brava holiday packages. What attracts such big numbers of tourists to Spain's 'Wild Coast' every year? Sun, Sand and Sangria - along with the great range of Costa Brava's cheap hotels. With a coastline stretching all the way down from the French border to Barcelona, there's quite a few Costa Brava beaches clamouring for your attention - so which are the most worthy?

Well, a good start for narrowing the list down is to look exclusively at EU Blue Flag winning beaches in Costa Brava. The Blue Flag is only granted to beaches that meet 29 criteria for excellence, with everything from cleanliness, to water quality, to the quantity of lifeguards come under scrutiny, ensuring that the Blue Flag really is a sign of quality. To give you an idea of the quality of the region, Costa Brava has the largest concentration of Blue Flag awarded beaches in Spain - no wonder it's popular, though it does make my task of narrowing down the best that bit more difficult!

Gandia

Nobody knows a region better than the locals, and that is why you can safely say Gandia is one of the finest beaches in Costa Brava - there are hardly any tourists there. This one is purely popular with the locals, and that alone should make you consider visiting this Costa Brava holiday gem! The beach itself is enormous, with fine white sands stretching off into the distance - and if you tire of this, the restaurants and cafes nearby make a delicious change of pace.

Aigua Blava

Aigua Blava is tranquil and calm - perfect for a break away from the clubs and bustling towns. The waters are clean, relaxing and calm, and wash peacefully over the golden sands. This Costa Brava beach is the smallest listed here, which provides a charming intimate feel allowing you really to feel like you're getting away from it all on your Costa Brava holiday.

Tamariu

Slightly larger than Aigua Blava is Tamariu - the little cove is a short hike across picturesque cliff tops, and well worth the slight effort of finding on your Costa Brava holiday. The sand is fine, the water is clear and the nearby amenities are top notch, with welcoming restaurants and charming boutiques lining the promenade ensuring a break from the relaxation is never far away, for those strange enough to want it!

Llafanc

Llafranc, while larger than the previous two Costa Brava beaches listed, is still small enough to feel cosy. The port is picturesque, there's plenty of space for children to play, and the sands are perfect for relaxation and working on your tan in the brilliant sunshine. As seems compulsory for blue flag Costa Brava beaches, you can be sure to find many fine restaurants along the promenade meaning that what started out as a 'couple of hours sunbathing' can easily extend into the evening - only ended when hunger pangs draw you to one of the nearby restaurants or cocktail bars, as the daylight draws to a close.

This is just a smattering of the many fine beaches along the Costa Brava, and as long as the beach is blue flag listed, you can be sure of quality. While the best time to visit the region is May-June (before the crowds) or September-October (after the crowds), the beauty of the amount of quality beaches is that if you find one too crowded, you can always head to the next one and still be assured of a relaxing day out.