Tabarca makes Spain’s top 25 beaches list: a double celebration for the island

Spain’s smallest inhabited island gets two presents in the same year. National Geographic has placed Tabarca’s beach among the country’s 25 most beautiful, just as the waters around the island mark 40 years of protection. Take the boat from Santa Pola and you will see why within half an hour.

On the National Geographic list

Viajes National Geographic picked Spain’s 25 most beautiful beaches for 2026, and Tabarca’s beach is on it. The magazine praises water that recalls the Mediterranean of decades past: clear, full of life and fringed by seagrass meadows. The only other entry from the Valencia region is Cala Granadella near Javea. Two beaches from our stretch of coast, both small, sheltered and at their best outside the busiest weeks.

Forty years of protected water

The timing could not be better. In 1986 Spain designated the waters around Tabarca as the country’s first marine reserve, 1,754 hectares in all. That was 40 years ago this year. The formula works: small scale fishing and protected zones have coexisted here for four decades, and the model has been copied along the entire Spanish coast. The country now counts twelve reserves of this kind.

Visitors see the result straight away. Put on a mask and you are swimming among schools of fish a few metres from the shore. The seagrass, posidonia, is what keeps the water so clear.

Getting to Tabarca

Tabarca lies a few kilometres off Santa Pola, south of Alicante. Boats from Santa Pola harbour take just under half an hour. In season there are also crossings from Alicante, Benidorm and Torrevieja. You can usually buy a return on the day, though booking ahead is wise in August. The island is car free and flat: everything is within walking distance of the jetty.

If island hopping appeals, Dénia is the next step. The ferries to Ibiza and Formentera leave from there, with a crossing of around two hours. How it works, what it costs and which permit your car needs between June and September is in our guide to the ferry from Dénia to Ibiza and Formentera.

More than a beach

The main beach is a shallow bay between the village and the headland, with islets offshore as a backdrop. Save time for the village too. The walled town dates from the eighteenth century, when king Carlos III settled Genoese families here whom he had ransomed from Tabarka in Tunisia. Hence the name. Walk through the old gates, visit the church and order caldero, the fish rice the island is known for. Stay the night and you will have Tabarca almost to yourself once the last boat leaves.

About the authorMilo Schuijt

Milo Schuijt is an entrepreneur and DJ on the Costa Blanca. He writes about the places where he lives, works and plays: from beach bars to the housing market.