These are the best places to travel this summer

Los Caños de Meca

Spain Travel Guide

Shop

Get even more with a Lonely Planet guide.

Shop Book
Beach at Los Canos de Meca, the lighthouse of Cape Trafalgar is visible in the distance - Costa de la Luz, Andalusia, Spain

Getty Images

LONELY PLANET’S RECOMMENDED eSIM

Stay connected in Los Caños de Meca

with

Saily is an affordable eSIM service that helps you stay connected and secure, anywhere in the world.

Get your eSIM

Overview

Little laid-back Los Caños de Meca, 16km southwest of Vejer, straggles along a series of spectacular open white-sand beaches that will leave you wondering why Marbella even exists. Once a hippie haven, Caños still attracts beach-lovers of all kinds and nations – especially in summer – with its alternative, hedonistic scene and nudist beaches, as well as kitesurfing, windsurfing and board-surfing opportunities. Immediately northwest is the beach resort of Zahora and, northwest again, the salt-white sands of surfer beach El Palmar.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Parque Natural de la Breña y Marismas del Barbate

    Parque Natural de la Breña y Marismas del Barbate

    Los Caños de Meca

    This 50-sq-km coastal park protects important marshes, cliffs and pine forest from Costa del Sol–type development. Its main entry point is a 7.2km (two…

  • El Palmar

    El Palmar

    Los Caños de Meca

    About 7km northwest of Los Caños, lovely, long El Palmar beach has Andalucía's best board-surfing waves from about October to May. In summer it's busy…

  • Torre del Tajo

    Torre del Tajo

    Los Caños de Meca

    Poised above the Atlantic, with a peaceful lookout point, this 16th-century tower is the highlight of the spectacular, 7.2km Sendero del Acantilado, which…

  • Cabo de Trafalgar

    Cabo de Trafalgar

    Los Caños de Meca

    At the western end of Los Caños de Meca, a side road (often half-covered in sand) leads out to an 1860 lighthouse on a low spit of land. This is the…

  • Playa Los Caños de Meca

    Playa Los Caños de Meca

    Los Caños de Meca

    Los Caños' main beach, ideal for watching skilled kitesurfers at work, is straight in front of Avenida de Trafalgar’s junction with the A2233 to/from…

  • Playa de las Cortinas

    Playa de las Cortinas

    Los Caños de Meca

    Nudist beach-goers seek out secluded coves like this one at the eastern end of Los Caños' main beach.

  • Playa del Faro

    Playa del Faro

    Los Caños de Meca

    Popular with nudists, this bleach-blonde beach sits immediately east of the Cabo de Trafalgar.

  • Playa de Zahora

    Playa de Zahora

    Los Caños de Meca

    Zahora's broad, blonde beauty of a silky beach spreads northwest from Los Caños de Meca.

Plan with a local

Get a book. Get inspired. Get exploring.

in partnership with getyourguide

Book popular activities in Los Caños de Meca