Sightseeing - The Mar Menor
The Mar Menor is Europes largest lagoon and is easy to explore with several villages and towns dotted around it's coast.

The Mar Menor is a 130 square km inland sea which is contained by a narrow strip of land (La Manga) which separates it from the Mediterranean Sea. The lagoon is open to the Mediterranean Sea at it's tip, but due to it only being 7M at it's deepest point, it is much warmer than the Mediterranean - indeed it can truely be as warm as a warm bath in summertime. This lagoon is ideal for all kinds of water sports and its warm, shallow water make it an ideal place for all the family.

It is surrounded by the resort villages and towns of (from the north) Lo Pagan and Santiago de La Ribera, these two towns have beautiful beaches and there is a promenade of about 4km that links the two resorts. Next is Los Alcazares, the largest of the resort towns with extensive beaches of over 4km backed again by a beautiful flat promenade, The smaller villages of Los Urrutias, Los Nietos, Mar de Crystal and Playa Honda are summertime resorts all with good beaches and a small marina at each village.

To the south of the Mar Menor is the World famous La Manga Club - a renowned sports centre with three championship golf courses situated within a world class tourist complex, with a host of recreational activities.

In this area can be found the protected Regional Park of Calblanque, showing that Murcia has learned from its neighbours and is actively protecting areas of natural beauty from over development. Here can be found glorious pristine golden sandy bays and steep cliffs. This area can only be accessed by dirt roads but is a fantastic area to explore by foot, on horseback, mountain bike ore even (carefully) by car.

Cabo de Palos, a typical, sleepy Spanish fishing village, is located alongside the most famous cape on the Murcian coast. The lighthouse was designed as a school for lighthouse keepers in 1865 and sits above the village. From here north lies the La Manga Strip, a narrow strip of land that divides the Mar Menor from the Mediterranean Sea.