Near the western end of Málaga province, with Gibraltar already visible on the horizon, sits San Luis de Sabinillas, the coastal town of Manilva. Its beach is long, wide and surprisingly uncrowded by Costa del Sol standards: you can still park for free two hundred metres from the sand in the middle of August.
Getting there
From the A-7, junction 146 for Sabinillas, or along the N-340 from Estepona (about 15 km). Free surface parking on the streets running parallel to the promenade. Intercity buses on the Estepona – La Línea de la Concepción route stop in the town.
Facilities
- ✓ Lifeguard during the bathing season
- ✓ Several beach bars on the sand
- ✓ Showers and public toilets
- ✓ Sunbed and parasol hire
- ✓ Free parking
- ✓ Flat, accessible promenade
- ✓ Sports area and children’s playground
What it’s like
Around 1,800 metres of dark, coarse sand, with a gradual entry into the water and generally gentle waves. The promenade runs the full length of the beach and links east to Puerto de la Duquesa, a comfortable twenty-minute walk that plenty of people do at sunset.
Manilva’s wine
Manilva is one of the very few coastal municipalities in Málaga with working vineyards: Muscat of Alexandria grown on the slopes running down to the sea. You can taste the wine and the raisins at the bodegas in the village, five kilometres from the beach. Combining a morning on the sand with a winery visit genuinely makes sense here.
What else is nearby
A few kilometres away are the Roman baths of La Hedionda, sulphurous thermal baths from Roman times that remain freely accessible, and the Castillo de la Duquesa, an 18th-century fort with an adjoining Roman site.
