You can get to a marine reserve on the Alicante tram. That is the short version of why Cala Cantalar is worth knowing about: a small rocky cove inside a protected marine area, with no bar, no lifeguard and no parking lot, about twenty minutes from the centre of a city of 340,000 people.
It is also the only officially naturist beach inside Alicante’s municipal boundary. Further north, Racó del Conill in Villajoyosa is the wilder version of the same idea.
Where Is Cala Cantalar?
On the Cabo de las Huertas, a 3.5-kilometer headland on the northeastern edge of the city, between the Albufereta and Playa de San Juan. The cove sits roughly midway along the cape’s coastal path, inside the Reserva Marina del Cabo de las Huertas, with Cala de la Palmera and Cala de los Judíos as its immediate neighbours.
Locally the area is called the zona del barco, after a small sundial monument nearby that everyone calls El Barco — the boat. If you are asking directions, that is the landmark people will use.
The Name Is a Quarry
Cantalar refers to a place where building stone was cut, and that is exactly what the hillock beside the cove once was: a quarry, worked for blocks used in older construction around the city. The golden, roughly squared rock formations around the shoreline are not a natural curiosity — they are what a quarry looks like a long time after everyone stopped cutting.
It is a small thing, but it changes how the place reads. This is not an untouched cove that the city grew up around. It is an industrial site the sea reclaimed, now protected as a marine reserve.
What the Cove Is Actually Like
Small: around 100 meters long, and anywhere from 6 to 50 meters wide depending on where the measurement is taken. A modest strip of sand sits at the centre, flanked on both sides by flat rock shelves.
Those shelves are the practical detail worth knowing. They give you a level, sand-free surface to lay a towel on, and in places there are ladders fixed into the rock for getting in and out of the water. It is a more comfortable arrangement than it sounds, and it means the cove absorbs more people than its 100 meters of shoreline would suggest.
There is no lifeguard, no restrooms, nothing for sale. Bring water.
On the naturist question: Cala Cantalar is the only officially recognised naturist beach within the city of Alicante. In practice it draws a quiet, unbothered mix of nude and clothed visitors, and nobody makes anything of it. As anywhere, the one rule that matters is not photographing other people.
In the Water
The marine reserve status is not decorative. The water is clear, the ground is rocky, and octopus, crab and a decent range of fish turn up within a few meters of the shelves. For casual snorkeling this is among the better spots you can reach on public transport anywhere in Spain.
Water shoes are worth it — the rock is sharp in places. A kayak or paddleboard opens up the string of small coves along the cape, most of which have no land access worth the name and are therefore usually empty.
The Cape Walk, and the Light
A flat, well-marked path runs along the Cabo de las Huertas, linking Cantalar with the busier Cala de la Palmera, continuing past the lighthouse and eventually reaching Playa de San Juan. Two to three kilometers depending on where you turn back, easy the whole way, with open sea on one side for most of it.
The cape’s position is what makes the evenings here worth staying for: you are looking back at the city, so the sun goes down behind Alicante’s skyline and the Castillo de Santa Bárbara. On the clearest winter evenings Santa Pola and Isla de Tabarca are visible out to the south. Winter is genuinely the better season for it.
Getting There
By tram, the Tridente stop on Lines 4 and 5 is a 14 to 18-minute walk away. By bus, lines 22 and 22N stop at Parque del Cabo, about 9 minutes on foot. Between them, this is one of the few genuinely wild-feeling coves in this whole set of guides that needs no car at all.
If you do drive: from central Alicante take Avenida de Denia (N-332) toward Playa de San Juan, then Avenida Costa Blanca to the junction with Calle Océano, where signage points to the cove. There is no car park — you leave the car on residential streets, which works fine except on summer weekends.
The final approach is a signposted footpath of around 400 meters through the cape’s small reserve. Not adapted for reduced mobility.
Eating and Staying
Nothing at the cove. A short walk up on Calle Tridente there is an ice cream shop and a pizzeria with a terrace; the Centro Comercial Venecia and Avenida de la Goleta, both about 700 meters off, have the fuller range.
Most people are not staying near Cantalar specifically — they are staying in Alicante and coming out for an afternoon. The city centre puts you near the old town and the castle; the San Juan seafront puts you closer to the cape and its coves. Both are a short tram ride from the cove.
When to Go
Cantalar is unusual among the beaches in these guides in that it has no bad season — only different ones, and no month where it becomes unbearable.
In summer the water reaches 26–27°C and weekends bring a moderate crowd, though even at its fullest this cove never approaches what San Juan or El Postiguet look like in August. Weekdays stay quiet throughout. Spring and autumn are the sweet spot: mild, near-empty on weekdays, water still comfortable well into October. And in winter, with the sea down around 14–17°C, the swimming stops but the cape walk and the evening light are at their best, and you will often have the whole thing to yourself.
The single most useful rule: come on a weekday, at any time of year.
Practical Tips
- Take the tram. No car park, and the walk from Tridente is quarter of an hour.
- Bring food and water. There is nothing for sale at the cove and no restrooms.
- Water shoes. The shelves and seabed are sharp in places.
- It’s a naturist cove. Nude and clothed both normal here; no photographs of other people either way.
- Stay for the light. The cape faces the city, which makes this one of the better sunset spots in Alicante — and the only one you can reach with a tram ticket.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cala Cantalar a nudist beach?
Yes — the only officially recognised one inside the city of Alicante. Clothed visitors are equally common.
Where does the name come from?
From the quarry beside it. Cantalar refers to a place where building stone was extracted, which is what the hillock next to the cove used to be.
Can you get there without a car?
Yes. TRAM Lines 4 and 5 to Tridente, or buses 22 and 22N to Parque del Cabo, both within a 10 to 20-minute walk.
Is there a lifeguard?
No. No lifeguard, no restrooms, no services of any kind at the cove.
Is it good for snorkeling?
Yes. It sits inside the Cabo de las Huertas marine reserve, and octopus and fish are regularly seen close to the rocks.
Tram and bus schedules, parking rules on the surrounding streets, and access arrangements within the Cabo de las Huertas reserve are set by the Ayuntamiento de Alicante and change; check with them before travelling. This is not safety advice. There is no lifeguard here, the rock shelves are slippery when wet, and the cove sits inside a marine reserve where taking anything from the seabed is restricted.
Image Credits
- Header image: Calas del Cabo de las Huertas by Luis Pueyo, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- In-article image: Atardecer en el Cabo de las Huertas by Aasalas, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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