With so many beaches and resorts on the Costa del Sol holiday makers seldom travel further along the cost towards the Atlantic coast but if you were to make the effort you would be pleasantly surprised at what you find.
Being the Atlantic coast the beaches are very different to those found on the Mediterranean coastline of the Costa del Sol. The beaches on the Costa del Sol are a courser type of sand mixed with pebbles but on the Atlantic coast the beaches are made up of long stretches of powdery white sand.
This coastline from Tarifa up to Ayamonte is known as the Costa de la Luz and stretches up to the boarder with Portugal. The Atlantic is tidal which means that over the years the pebbles have broken down to fine powdery sand providing some of the best beaches in Spain.
Standing on a beach on the Costa del la Luz is like being in the Caribbean complete with turquoise sea and sand dunes. But there is a downside. Being the Atlantic coast it does get very windy at times and this is the reason that places like Tarifa are famous for their wind assisted water sports like wind surfing and kite surfing.
Another thing you get on the Atlantic coast of Spain are larger waves. You do get waves on the western section of the Costa del Sol as it is very close to the Atalantic but as you head along this gets less. This is the same for the tide. There is a slight tide on the far western section of the Costa del Sol but this lessens as you head east.
The Costa de la Luz is just an hour drive from resorts like Marbella and is within easy reach for a day trip. Access is also very easy as it is on the same main coast road, the N340. You just head in the direction of Algeciras / Cadiz and once through Algeciras you will see the coastline start to change quite dramatically.