Tabarca Island Catamaran Ferry with Seabed Views from Santa Pola

Santa Pola, the gateway to Tabarca

Santa Pola is a fishing town on the southern Costa Blanca, about 20 kilometres south of Alicante, with a busy harbour, long sandy beaches and a 16th-century fortress built to defend the coast against pirates. North of the town lie the salt pans of the Santa Pola natural park, where pink flamingos feed in the shallow lagoons for most of the year, a lovely sight from the road as you arrive.

The ferry leaves from the main harbour, close to the seafront promenade. If you are wondering how to get to Santa Pola, it is about 30 minutes by car from Alicante or Alicante–Elche airport, and regular buses connect it with Alicante and Elche. Arrive 20 to 30 minutes before departure, show your ticket at the boarding point and choose a seat on the open deck or near the underwater windows.

The crossing with underwater views

The catamaran crosses about eight kilometres of open sea between Santa Pola and Tabarca, taking around half an hour or a little more depending on the sea. What makes this boat special is its submerged viewing area: you go down a few steps to a cabin with large windows below the waterline, where you can watch the sandy bottom, meadows of Posidonia seagrass and shoals of fish as the boat slows near the island.

Children especially love watching the seabed slide by, and it is a gentle way to discover marine life without getting wet. Up on deck, the views back to the Santa Pola cape and its lighthouse, and ahead to the low silhouette of Tabarca, are perfect for photos. Many visitors searching for a glass bottom boat to Tabarca choose this crossing for exactly this reason.

Tabarca island and its walled village

Tabarca, officially Nueva Tabarca, is a flat island about 1.8 kilometres long and only a few hundred metres wide, and the smallest permanently inhabited island in Spain. In the 18th century, by royal order, it was fortified and settled with Genoese families who had been rescued from captivity on the Tunisian island of Tabarka, which gave the island its name. The walls, stone gates, baroque church and governor's house still stand today, and the old village is a protected historic site.

Walking through the gates into the grid of whitewashed streets feels like stepping back in time. Only a few dozen people live here all year, and in the evening, when the day visitors leave, the island returns to silence. Is Tabarca worth visiting? For its history, sea and peaceful atmosphere, it is one of the most rewarding day trips on the Costa Blanca.

The Tabarca marine reserve, beaches and lighthouse

In 1986 the waters around Tabarca became the first marine reserve in Spain. Fishing is restricted, the seagrass meadows are protected and the result is some of the clearest water on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. The small beach near the harbour and the rocky coves around the island are perfect for swimming and snorkelling among groupers, bream and colourful wrasse, so bring a mask.

Beyond the village, a path leads across the open eastern part of the island to the lighthouse and a stone defence tower, with wide views of the sea. Lunch on Tabarca usually means caldero, the local rice dish cooked in a rich fish broth, served in the harbour restaurants. The best time to visit Tabarca is from May to October, while spring and early autumn are quieter than the peak of summer.