Week 3. 13th April – 19th April 2026. Nerja to Mar Menor, Spain – 230 miles.
Last week, we did an almost straight line from just east of Madrid down to Nerja on the south coast, where both the weather and the culture change. Oh, and it’s ever so slightly cheaper… The south is arid in parts, but still rather spectacular. We will hug the coast before turning north. As we move slowly north, we are hoping that the good warm weather we are having will stay with us.
Monday 13th April 2026 (Nerja to Balerma – 67 miles)
After a windy night, the sun is out this morning. This area is renowned for wind; when it blows, it can be quite severe. We are leaving Nerja after a very nice couple of days and going east now – this is as far west along the Spanish coast as we go.
We set out after saying goodbye to our favourite parrot here. A stop at a supermarket for a food stock up, and soon we are on the motorway. We used to live north of Malaga, near the town of Antequera, and kept our boat at the Almerimar marina 20 years ago. Back then, H used to drive between the home and the marina before the motorway was built, and it took 3 hours slogging through towns and villages; it was very fiddly, so the motorway makes a huge difference. However, the motorway is now being upgraded, so there’s a lot of roadworks and speed restrictions, and it’s much hillier than we remember.
The drive turns into a long, slow one, and it just feels like a bit of a slog. We eventually stop for a coffee after 90 minutes and swap over. We are going to stay at a campsite we’ve been to before at Balerma. Check-in is quick and easy; it’s a lot quieter than the winter months, which is nice.
Before going to our pitch, we visit their cheap, well-designed jet wash as Jess is still quite dirty from the sandy rains.
The campsite is very quiet; it seems the German campers who love it here have gone home for the spring. We discover the campsite laundry room with 5 empty washers and dryers!
This is a luxury to us. It’s funny how the little things please you when you’re camping, we think nothing of putting a wash on at home! H takes over 3 machines and gets all the washing done, and the bed changed.
Del gives Jess a good wipe over inside and out, and she looks fabulous again. He also gets a bit of homework done for his next project. Happy days.
We’re so pleased with ourselves that we have to test our new fizz glasses with some Prosecco that our good friend Karen from back home bought us for Christmas. It’s delicious. Cheers Karen…!
Dinner is a French lentil and pork tinned concoction that we’ve been travelling around Europe with for quite a while now, with homemade dauphinoise potatoes and broccoli.
We walk to the beach afterwards to watch the huge breaking waves and the sunset.
The wind has really kicked up the sea. So much so, we come across a poor, dead baby dolphin. It must have got too close to the shore in the strong sea, beached and not been able to get back into deep water. Sad.
Tuesday 14th April 2026 (Balerma – Day 2)
We have beautiful blue skies with NO WIND, and it’s a warm day.
We have a coffee in the bar on site and then a light breakfast back at Jess, as we are planning a lunch out. Today we are going out on the bikes to get some exercise. H lifts the bikes off the back of Jess and cleans them (she is missing the gym, and this is the only weightlifting available). We foolishly took the cover off the bikes too early last week, so they are covered in rain and sand.
We are going to cycle to Almerimar Marina today, which is just over 6 miles away. After covering ourselves in suncream, we set off.
It’s mostly flat along the seafront with some weaving through a town. Down here in the south of Spain, it is considered the greenhouse of Europe. If your fruit or veg says it’s come from Spain, then it’s most likely to have come from this part of Spain. The greenhouses are basically acres of plastic sheeting, which break down in the heat and wind and have to be replaced.
What shocks us on our ride is the amount of small pieces of old plastic sheeting stuck in the vegetation at the side of the roads and beaches, ready to blow into the sea just metres away. Surely this is an environmental disaster? It makes all our efforts with plastic bags in the UK seem pointless when you see the amount of damage on this scale. Check out this video.
We finally arrive at the marina in Almerimar, and we find the spot where we used to be berthed.
We both agree that the place is looking a bit tired and tatty, and some of the boats look like they are from our era, 22 years ago. We cycle around and admire the snow-covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada in the background. There’s a motorhome aire here, but it was always too busy in the past when we used to visit it. We have a chat with a couple who have been there for 5 weeks, that’s a long time in one spot…!
We start the cycle back, on the way, an elderly cyclist stops us, a Spanish chap wittering on about H’s seat being too low, something which has always been a bone of contention with her as she doesn’t like the seat too high, but loses power as a result. She does, from the back, look like a circus chimp on a tricycle going up a hill in low gear. She does need to sort that out, it’s bad when a local Spanish cyclist has to point it out as well…!
We cycle back to a seafront restaurant past the campsite, which does a very reasonable menu of the day.
We have salad, anchovies, black rice, Russian salad, two different types of pork and a local dessert between us, served with a glass of wine and coffee afterwards. It’s quite a feast, but we have earned it after 26km of cycling. Back on the bikes and back to Jess, where we spend the rest of the afternoon reading, Del does some more work until the early evening.
There is a petanque court here, a popular game in France and Spain and there are 5 courts here. We stock up on some local cheese and ham, and our steel balls and set off for the court to play a couple of games in the sunset.
It’s a lovely evening. Del soundly beats H.
A good day today. We have enjoyed our two nights here; it should be a short drive tomorrow to the southeastern tip of Spain, the Cabo de Gata (the Cat Cape!).
Wednesday 15th April 2026 (Balerma – Cabo de Gata 55 miles)
It’s a lovely, bright, fresh morning, with clear blue skies. We have a simple breakfast outside, after which we pack up and set off for our next stop, to a campsite we have been to before in the Cabo de Gata (the bottom right corner of Spain). Del has a work video call to take at 11 this morning, so after we have paid, we park up outside the campsite so he can do that before setting off. It’s another beautiful day today, very still and calm at sea, and everything is blue! Lovely
We arrive at the campsite just in time for lunch. They have a very good restaurant here which does an excellent menu of the day. It’s bad news, though, the restaurant is shut for renovations! Luckily, we have a fridge full of Spanish goodies, so we will save some money today (and probably calories).
We set up camp, it’s lovely and peaceful here, just lots of birds and some parrots squawking. We get a visit from a friendly ginger stray cat.
H gives her a prawn, and that’s it, we’re mates forever. She stays all day napping next to us. For dinner, we get the outdoor gas stove out, and H makes a Fiduea, which Del declares as the best one he has ever had.
It’s a fantastic dinner, cooked and eaten at the table, with a little tapa of tomato bread and Cantabrian anchovies. We give our cat (Hazel, we have named her) some cat food that we have bought for her. Yes, she has got us wrapped round her little paw. We sit outside in the lovely evening air. Peace…
Thursday 16th April 2026 (Cabo de Gata – Day 2)
When we open the blinds this morning, our little cat friend is waiting patiently outside. We give her a little something. Del cooks up bacon and eggs on the stove outside, and H does the toast and chops an avocado.
Complete with some freshly brewed coffee, it’s a lovely breakfast on a lovely day. After clearing up and a bit of paperwork (H booking out our next trip and Del doing some homework), we set off for a cycle. The area here is mostly scrubland with the occasional greenhouse, and it isn’t much to write home about, but saying that, it does offer some charm; it is quiet, peaceful and interesting in parts. We like it, and it does get busy here in the summer.
This is the driest part of Spain. For us, the attraction is the tranquillity of the campsite itself. Nevertheless, we like to have a good explore, so we set off across the bumpy dry land towards the sea. The town of Cabo de Gata looks sandblasted and deserted, but there’s a bar open on the seafront. We are forced by the sunshine and blue sea to have a beer and a free tapa each, fried potatoes for Del and a delicious sardine for H.
We shall cycle back on the main road and try to work out the confusing road layout in the town, discovering in fact that deep in the centre it’s actually quite lively.
By the time we get back to the van, we have done 12km, not as much as Tuesday’s cycle, but not shabby.
The outside table top stove is back out, so for dinner we have a starter of garlic prawns, and chicken for the next course, but when she opens the pack, it’s rancid despite being within date. We have to bin it, we don’t like throwing meat away, it feels disrespectful. We have tuna steaks instead, with a salad. Hazel, our part-time pet, has had a 3-course meal – a prawn to start, cat food for main and some cheese for dessert.
We are spoiling her.
Friday 17th April 2026 (Cabo de Gata – Palomares 56 miles )
Once again, this morning, “our cat” is waiting for us outside.
We have a simple breakfast of croissants and cat food outside before starting to pack up. Hazel the cat has clocked this new activity and is most upset, having had a stable home for two days. She skulks off and won’t let us come near her. We’re really sad too, but we knew that this would happen. She was the sweetest cat and became attached to us. We just wish we could have taken her with us.
We set off with heavy hearts to Palomares, a free beach park up, a very popular location for vans from all over Europe, which we have visited a couple of times before.
We shall be completely off-grid tonight, so we have charged everything that has a battery inside it, we have full water tanks ready with plenty of food and drink. We like the off-grid stops, and this place is a good one to be off-grid.
It’s a lot quieter here than we’re used to. We find a good spot, side on, facing the sea. There’s a nice restaurant located at the entrance here, so we take the short walk and have some baby squid and spicy potatoes with a glass of wine, delicious.
We relax back at the van for a while and then get the bikes down for a cycle into the nearest town, Villaricos.
The weather is the best you can get. The temperature is just right, no wind, the sea looks fabulous with different shades of blue, and it is so calm and quiet. We stop and look and think fondly of the time we sailed past here just over 20 years ago… The time is just rushing by…
Back to Jess, where we swap the bikes for chairs and a rather large glass of Ricard with ice and sat by the waters edge before dinner of a huge salad and sardines. A nice day…
Saturday 18th April 2026 (Palomares to Mazarron – 56 miles )
It was a quiet night with just the sound of the sea breaking on the shore. It’s another beautiful day this morning, so we sit outside with a coffee after a paddle in the sea. There’s a baker’s van that comes round the beach beeping his horn to let you know he’s here.
Del is dispatched to buy some croissants and a stick of bread. We sit in the sun and eat them with another coffee. What a place, you can’t beat it, a beautiful sea view, gorgeous weather, free of charge, with pastries delivered to your door. Not a bad start to the day…
We do a slow pack up and leave just before midday. It’s a busy, popular place here. People have been known to spend many weeks here, and we wonder what they are doing with their black and grey water? We have a good idea, and we have read on the internet from some locals about seeing people just dumping everything in the fields behind the parking area. No wonder places like this are becoming rarer when some motor homers behave so badly.
We need to get back on the motorway. Today sees us turning north properly now and heading up the east coast of Spain. On our way to the motorway, Google routes us down a road that gets more and more rustic and drops us in the middle of what looks like a man-made reservoir area. There are short, steep hills between each raised basin of water, and we are led through the storm drains and “run-offs” lanes.
We are not in the wrong place, as many cars seem to be using this route; it just seems a bit odd, the hills are short and steep, and we are a bit concerned that we might bottom out. We take our time, though and get to the other side without a scrape or touching water!
We are heading to Mazarron, which has a harbour, which was always full when we tried to get in with our boat years ago. There is a cheap camper park here, Camping & Resort Bahia Mazarron, which is brand new and has 250 spaces ready out of a 450 total, which are coming next year. This is the kind of place that will fill up instantly in the winter, but for now it’s reasonably quiet. Unfortunately, though it’s in the middle of nowhere, the back end of the town, but it’s a nice place with good showers and a lovely little bar.
We have a coffee and then set up Jess’s with all the outside stuff, chairs, tables and definitely an awning. It’s so hot, and there is no shade at all…
As it’s so hot, we wait a while to cycle into the town. It’s only a short ride away, and when we get there, we are a bit surprised about how tired-looking it is.
We have noticed on our drive this time that this is the case with so many towns in the area, they just look like they have been battered with sand over the past winters and not kept in good order. We stop for an alcohol free beer while contemplating the state of the world. Back at Jess, it’s dinner in the sun, pasta and salad. H beats Del at cards once again… Some things never change…
Sunday 19th April 2026 (Mazarron to Mar Menor – 42 miles )
We sit outside in the morning sun for breakfast; it’s very hot already, and our awning isn’t shading us at all. It’s only an hour’s drive to the next stop, Camping Mar Menor, where we have reserved for 4 days. This is another regular stop for us as it’s a great campsite and the area is good for cycling. The best bit, though, is the ‘campsite restaurant’, which is not your average camper restaurant; it deserves to be in the Michelin guide. It’s H’s favourite Spanish restaurant and is called Kinita.
We have booked for tonight for their tasting menu.
At the campsite, we get a large plot with a bit of a sea view and get settled in.
We spend the afternoon reading, relaxing, and just chilling out; it’s quite hot here. At 6pm we go across to the restaurant. We’ve booked an early dinner, as the tasting menu will be a lot of food. We get a table with a sea view and start with a red vermouth, a traditional Spanish aperitif.
The food is delicious, with truffle croquettes, tuna tartare, and a cold tomato soup with prawn tartar, which is amazing.
Eight courses in all and not tiny ones either. We make it to the last one, but it beats us; we can’t even eat half of it.
We stagger back to the van for a lie down and watch an episode of Radiactive Emergency on Netflix, a shocking true story that we don’t even remember happening at the time. A quick look up tells the whole story…
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