Cala de Finestrat is by far the best beach around here for a first paddle: small, sheltered by two breakwaters and almost always flat. That is why we recommend it for starting out in a kayak and for going with kids.

And it is exactly why it has the most contested parking in the area. Let us break it down.

The La Cala car park

There is a paid underground car park right behind the promenade, and it is the sensible option in high season. You come out of the lift practically on the sand. A few euros for the morning, and it saves you twenty minutes of circling.

Around the promenade there is also paid blue zone parking with a ticket. Watch the signs: hours change from block to block and in summer they run well into the evening.

The streets above (free, with a walk)

Up towards Avenida Marina Baixa and the residential streets behind it there is free white-line parking. The classic choice if you would rather not pay, with two caveats:

  • The walk down to the beach is downhill, which means the way back is uphill, in a wet swimsuit, at midday.
  • In July and August, from 10:30 am you will be parking genuinely far away.

Tip: on a Tuesday in September at nine in the morning you will park on the seafront. In August, not even at nine.

Getting to the water carrying nothing

This is where the cove gets easy: since we bring the gear to the meeting point, you do not have to carry a kayak down those slopes or haul it back up wet. We leave it inflated and assembled on the sand, with paddles, life jackets and pump, and collect it afterwards.

You walk down with a towel and not much else.

Two specific warnings

  1. The swimming area is buoyed. Always leave through the marked channels and never paddle across the swimmers' zone. It is the rule and it is common sense.
  2. In a strong easterly the cove is choppier than it looks from the promenade. It is small and sheltered, but the sea changes the moment you round the breakwater. If in doubt, check how to read the wind and sea forecast.

If you would rather skip the parking altogether

Five minutes away you have Villajoyosa, with far roomier parking and water just as calm. We deliver there too, and in Benidorm — where parking has its own guide.

Tell us the day and the spot that suit you on the rental page and we will make it work.