La Manga Strip
The La Manga Strip divides the Mediterranean Sea from the largest lagoon in Europe the Mar Menor - La Manga is a unique location with a grest deal to offer. The La Manga Strip - Two seas, twice the fun
 The La Manga Strip is a unique location in Europe , it is a strip of land 21 Km long and 300 metres wide (average). La Manga means ‘sleeve’ and it is a strip of land which separates the Mediterranean Sea from the Mar Menor (Small Sea). Along it’s coast on both sides, there are beautiful ‘Blue Flag’ beaches with white sands, ideal for family holidays. Even in the height of the season, they never get ‘packed’ and claustrophobic
The Mar Menor is the largest lagoon in Europe and has a surface area of 130 sq km and a maximum depth of 8 metres. The crystal clear waters are warm, calm and rich in salts and minerals, in fact the temperature never falls below 18degrees. In certain areas of the Mar Menor the therapeutic clays can be found, these are a favourite with the Spanish tourists, who cover themselves with the clay and then bake in the hot sun. It is said to be good for skin complaints, rheumatism and arthritis etc.
The area we concentrate on is the, up and coming, area around the Tomas Maestre Marina, which is on the 13 - 14 km mark of the strip and Veniciola which is on the 17 km mark.
Restaurants and Bars
 Essential for any holiday is a large variety of restaurants and bars. La Manga offers the tourists a wide range to choose from, including, Spanish, Greek, Indian, Chinese, Mexican (even a Burger King but we try to avoid that!!). The Tomas Maestre Marina comes alive at night with its many bars and restaurants and you must sample the local fish and shellfish fresh from the sea, prepared on hotplates, or as ingredients in the locally famous Paella, a typical rice dish of the fisherman.
 Activities
There is a range of activities to keep the whole family amused for hours
Beach ... Cycle Hire ... Restaurants ... Quad Bikes ... Go Karts ... Shops ... Sailing ... Supermarkets ... Jet Skis ... Beach Bars ... Casino ... Scuba Diving ... Golf ... Boat trips ... Therapeutic Sands ... Kite Surfing ... Windsurfing ...Walking ... Marina ... Fishing ... Boat Hire ... Car Hire
Market and Shops
There is an open air market, throughout the year, every Sunday at Cabo de Palos, where you can buy luxury leather goods at ridiculous prices and ‘Rolex’ watches for a few Euros. For serious shopping you will have to go to the largest department stores in Spain, El Court Ingles, which can be found at Cartagena and Murcia – this is not to be missed
Access
 La Manga is easily accessible from both Alicante and Murcia Airports. Taxis or Car hire are readily available at both airports. Once on the Strip, you will find the buses run every 30 minutes from Cabo de Palos to Veniciola and there are also numerous taxis. If you want to spoil yourself with a night out at the famous La Manga Golf Club, it is possible to take a taxi and enjoy a game of golf on one of it’s 3 courses, or a romantic dinner for two at the Indian Restaurant with spectacular views overlooking the La Manga Strip and Mar Menor.
Development and Investment
The area is beautiful and ideal fro the tourist as it is, but it is interesting to see the amount of money that is being poured into this area. It certainly makes it an ideal place to invest in property as every time a large project is announced the property prices escalate. There is very little land left to develop, so once this has been sold there will be none left and prices will inevitably go up
 In 2003 the picturesque bridge at Estation del Peurte’opened it’s large ‘arms’ to allow the first sailing yachts into the Tomas Maestre Marina. This bridge replaced the old, single lane, ‘rickety rackety’ bridge at a cost of 6,000,000€ of EC money
In 2003 the Town Hall funded a garden in Veniciola, as well as many palm trees lining the roads
In 2004 the shopping centre opened to about 40 shops in the Tomas Maeste Marina, shops include a large supermarket, bike and car hire, hair dressers, restaurants, dive school, Burger King and many more to come
 In 2004 we also saw the development of a 9 hole, par 3 golf course at Veniciola.
In the period since 2004 we have seen the increase in the amount of beach bars, water sports, such as jet skis and inflatables to entertains the tourists. A ferry now links the Tomas Maestre Marina with Sandiago de la Ribera on the "mainland" side of the Mar Menor which is an enjoyable excursion (particularly for the Wednesday morning market). There have also been several hotels built in the area and new facilities are being added all of the time.
If you have never been to La Manga Strip, we can certainly recommend it and we are sure you will want to return to this unique part of Europe. We fell in love with it the first time we saw it!
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