After the Maratón Elche-Alicante: Tabarca

The Route: Port of Alicante → Isla de Tabarca → Port of Alicante Logistics: Passenger boat from Alicante's harbour, about an hour each way. Flat walking on the island. Marathon Month: November Duration: Day trip

Port of Alicante ──(about 1 hr boat)──> Isla de Tabarca ──(about 1 hr boat)──> Port of Alicante

The Maratón Elche-Alicante finishes in the Port of Alicante, which is also where the boats to Tabarca leave from. The island lies about 20 km south along the coast, off Santa Pola. It is less than 2 km long and almost completely flat, which makes it one of the few places on this coast where a full day out asks nothing of tired quads.

Late November on Tabarca is out of season. In summer the boats are full and the village crowded; in late autumn there are fewer sailings, fewer open restaurants and very few visitors. The sea can be choppy in a strong wind, and crossings are sometimes cancelled. Afternoons are usually mild, around 20°C, but the island has almost no shade or shelter, so take a layer for the boat.

Cruceros Kontiki runs boats from the Port of Alicante. A return ticket costs €24 for adults. The company publishes a timetable, but winter departures are fewer than summer ones and are confirmed at the ticket office, so check the day before by phone or at the quay. Boats from Santa Pola, closer to the island, run more often, but getting to Santa Pola from Alicante adds a bus ride.

The walled village

Tabarca was uninhabited and used by North African corsairs until the 1760s, when Charles III had it fortified and settled. The first residents were families of Genoese origin rescued from captivity in Tabarka, an island off Tunisia, which gave the new settlement its name. The village inside the walls keeps its grid of low, whitewashed streets, the church of San Pedro y San Pablo and three gates in the walls. It takes about an hour to walk slowly, all on the flat.

Around the island

Outside the walls, a track leads east across open scrub to the Torre de San José, a watchtower, and the lighthouse at the far end. The path is level and sandy or rocky in places, and the round trip from the village is about 3 km. There are benches in the village but few outside it.

The waters around Tabarca became Spain's first marine reserve in 1986, and the clear water around the rocks is the reason summer visitors come to snorkel. In late November it is for looking at from the harbour wall.

Lunch and the return

Caldero, a rice cooked in a rich fish stock in an iron pot, is the island's dish, originally the fishermen's meal. A few restaurants by the harbour and in the village stay open in the off season, mostly at lunchtime. Confirm the return sailing time when you land; missing the last boat in November means a long wait for help.