Casa de los Leones

Re: El puerto de Santa Maria Is it a "dump"

by Peternelaine

The Puntilla beach view is not the best but you just have to travel a very short distance outside of the town to the great sandy beaches fronting the districts of Las Redes and El Manantial. You can reach them by an excellent bus service if you do not have a car.

We have stayed in a large villa at El Manantial (10 of us last September) and just the two of us in a small house 70 yards or so from a glorious sandy beach at Las Redes in mid April. This could be big enough for you at about 300 euros for a week (2 bedrooms) Only downside is you are opposite a pizza place and it can get a little noisy.

We have visited and stayed in the centre in December and so we feel we have some idea of what it is like. The centre is great as far as we are concerned with great old buildings and lovely streets to wander along with lots of bars and other places to eat.

Cadiz can be reached by ferry from El Puerto and I prefer that as the ride in by car gets very slow and has the bonus of a less than scenic passage through a very built up district surrounding old Cadiz.

You can take a trip around El Puerto by horse drawn carriage. The tourist office is at 22 Calle Luna, really easy to find.

It is true quite a bit of the town is run down but it really adds something rather than detracts. The countless courtyards that you walk by (slowly with head turned for the best view) provide a very interesting way to pass time. They vary from the magnificent to the most run down but both having their own interest (at least we think so)

There is also an Aqua Park a little way out of town but we have not visited it.

We visited Conil for the first time on our last trip. It is a beach venue with lots of small streets and eating places. It was great for a day trip but we felt that was it. It also has far more British people living there than El Puerto, where you can go days without hearing another English voice.

Hope this helps.

P.S. we are hoping to go to El Puerto again in June