| Location and General Information |
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Vera Playa is located in the south-east corner of Spain - at approximately the same latitude as the most northerly parts of Africa. Its name means "the beach of Vera". Vera, in Spanish, is pronounced with a soft 'v' so that it sounds more like "Bera". It is named after the small town of Vera, in whose area it lies, and which is about 8 kms inland. The nearest town, however, is Garrucha, about 5 kms to the south, whose harbour is home to an active fishing fleet and which has a significant harbour for bulk freighters used to ship gypsum and other materials from inland quarries. Garrucha is an attractive and growing small town with a wide range of restaurants, shops and other facilities. A few kilometres to the south of Garrucha is the beautifully located village of Mojácar on the edge of the Sierra Cabrera mountains. The popularity of Mojácar since the 1960s has spawned a mass of holiday and residential development along the beach area near Mojácar, though thankfully, as throughout the area, strict planning control has prevented high rise developments. Vera Playa is on the Costa de Almeria. The
beach at Vera Playa runs north-south and the council-designated
naturist beach is approximately 1km long and the unofficial or traditional
naturist beach extends about another kilometre (but is now under
pressure from new textile developments which front it). The official
naturist developments zone runs the length of the naturist beach
and is somewhat less in depth at around 0.5 kms deep from the beach. |  |
| Getting
to Vera Playa |
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Vera Playa is situated only about 13 kms from the Autovia del Mediterraneo - the Mediterranean Motorway - a free motorway, which provides a fast link to the airports which serve the area and to other parts of Spain. Most Spanish visitors to Vera Playa come by car - the journey from Madrid is less than 5 hours. Almeria, the nearest large town, is approximately 90 kms or an hour and quarter away, Murcia is approximately 140 kms or one and three quarter hours. Most visitors from Northern Europe fly, either to Almeria airport (90 kms or 50 minutes) or to Alicante (215 kms or two hours fifteen minutes). Almeria airport is generally uncrowded and pleasant to use, but flights are limited in number especially in the winter months. Flights to and from Alicante at any time of year are plentiful and cheap. There are now some flights to Murcia airport which is at San Javier on the shore of the Mar Menor. Murcia airport is small and quiet and very pleasant to use. By the direct coastal road through Cartagena it is 142 kms from Vera Playa, but by motorway via Murcia it is 187 kms (around 2 hours 15 mins.) The final possibility is Malaga, though this is around 300 kms and 4 hours away. Car hire is available from all the airports (see our facilities page) at very reasonable rates, especially in winter. Package holiday operators arrange transfers by coach, minibus or taxis depending on the numbers of their clients. Visitors can certainly save money by making their own travel and accommodation arrangements, but, of course, many people like a tour operator to suffer the stress of making arrangements instead of them! |
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| Last update: 20 October 2002
Additional material about Vera Playa and the area
will be welcomed 
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