The Mar Menor is a 130 square km inland sea which is contained by a narrow strip of land which separates it from the Mediterranean Sea. The lagoon can not be circumnavigated by car as the strip of land is broken at the northern tip. This lagoon is ideal for all kinds of water sports and its warm, shallow water make it an ideal place for all the family. Some of the villages on its perimeter are, San Pedro del Pinatar, Santigo de la Ribera, San Javier, Los Alcazares, Los Urrutia and also La Manga. La Manga is actually built on a sand bar and is 22km long but only 200m wide in parts.
Numerous property developments and villages mark the extreme south of the Mar Menor (Minor Sea): Los Urrutias, Los Nietos, Mar de Cristal and Playa Honda. Closeby is the La Manga Club - World renowned sports centre with three championship golf courses situated within a world class tourist complex, with a host of recreational activities.The protected Regional Park of Calblanque, Monte de Cenizas and Peña de Aguila all show that Murcia has learned from its neigbours and is actively protecting areas of natural beauty fom overdevelopmrent. Closing the bay to the south we find Cabo de Palos, a typical, sleepy Spanish village, situated alongside the most famous cape on the Murcian coast. The silhouette of the lighthouse, designed as a school for lighthouse keepers in 1865, crowns the town and the cape. It lights the way from the coastal Mediterranean cliffs of this fishing village to the flat expanses of La Manga.

 

 

La Manga del Mar Menor is a wonderful Mediterranean spot located 30 Km. North of Cartagena. La Manga's official slogan is A paradise between two Seas. La Manga del Mar Menor itself is a narrow wedge of land between two seas, the Mediterranean and the Mar Menor, measuring 21 km. in length. Flats, residences, luxurious villas, hotels, restaurants, discotheques, an important leisure port with a blue flag and magnificent recreational installations take up part of it. While the last few kilometers have been left practically in its natural state. La Manga has a large number of beaches totaling more than 40 km., with, in addition, the possibility of choosing between two seas with very different water temperatures, different degrees of salinity, one with waves and the other practically calm all year round. La Manga, in itself, is a magnificent tourist spot, with hotels that makes up 50% of the regional total. In addition to a certain cosmopolitan atmosphere, one must add the beauty of its landscape, its special qualities for golf and water sports and an ample variety of entertainment and leisure activities.