El Palmar

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Palmar:

The area from Cadiz to Cabo Trafalgar is more or less a continuous stretch of sandy beaches. Many parts of this area are still pretty off beat, especially the ones further away from Cadiz. But developements of holiday houses and tourist infrastructure come quick in this area, even though they are usually a bit chaotic.

At the moment, El Palmar is still pretty quiet, the roads are narrow and to find the place you have to watch out for the right roads. The large sand beach has been called one of spains finest. Thereīs a few restaurants and bars in town that make their main business in the holiday season. During summer the place is dominated by people from the region seaking relieve from the inland heat. Consequently it gets very crowded then, especially on the weekends. Before and after spanish holiday season there is a few central european tourists who enjoy the mild climate in spring and autumn. In winter the town falls asleep.

For accomodation you find a wide offer of holiday houses - donīt expect to find too many vacancies  during the summer months though-, and there is a campground. As El Palmar has the reputation to be one of the best beachbreaks in Spain, a solid surf infrastructure has been established. There is a few surf schools (El Palmar Surf School, El Palmar Surf, a - frame to name a few) and shops in town. If you are interested in modern longboarding check the cece - Surf factory.

surfing: the place gets the most swell in the area and works with swells from 0.5 to 2.5m that create a powerfull shorebreak wave. Even the smaller waves have plenty of punch and with the right conditions - that usually appear in winter - you can savour long rides. Donīt expect to surf alone here though and avoid weekends.

windsurfing: the shorebreak type of waves isnīt the best setup for wavesailing but during some rare days - mostly in winter - when good swell combines with the right winds you can get some remarkable sessions here. Check it when the wind in Canos de Meca is too strong.

kiteboarding: summer breezes create nice kiteboarding conditions. Just make sure to avoid the surfing areas. The beach is large enough to find some free space.

check the gallery for more pics! Muchas gracias a Tom Riedel for providing these beauties!

for actual wind and wave forecasts have a look at this:

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