Guardamar Dunes (Guardamar del Segura)
BeachThe Guardamar dunes are a shaded pine forest planted straight onto the sand — a century-old feat of engineering that stabilised shifting dunes and left a rare green belt right beside the beach.
Why visit the Guardamar Dunes
At the mouth of the Segura river, Guardamar del Segura once faced dunes so mobile they threatened to bury the town. From around 1900 the forester Francisco Mira led the planting of hundreds of thousands of pines and other trees to fix the sand — and it worked. The result is a shaded, fragrant pine forest laid directly over the dunes, threaded with walking and cycling paths that run right down to wide, quiet beaches. It is an unusually green, cool stretch of coast, backed by the town’s hilltop castle and Moorish and Phoenician remains.
Pines on the sand
Hundreds of thousands of pines were planted from around 1900 to stabilise the dunes — a rare coastal woodland.
Walk and cycle
Shaded trails wind through the forest and out to the beach, flat and easy for families and bikes.
Wide and quiet
Behind the trees lie long, sandy, low-rise beaches that stay calmer than the resort coast to the south.
Dune engineering
The plantation was pioneering conservation work, credited to forester Francisco Mira — still studied today.
Castle & ruins
Guardamar’s hilltop castle and nearby Phoenician and Moorish remains add history to the nature.
Cool microclimate
The forest keeps the shore noticeably cooler and shadier than the open beaches around it.
Practical information
- Getting there: about 40 min by car from Alicante airport; car parks sit along the forest edge
- Best time: year-round — the shade makes it pleasant even in high summer
- Bring: walking or cycling shoes; paths are flat and family-friendly
- Don’t miss: walking from the pines straight onto the quiet beach, then up to the castle
Find Guardamar Dunes (Guardamar del Segura) on the map
Place type
Area · next level
Vega BajaGuardamar Dunes (Guardamar del Segura)
A vast belt of pine-forested sand dunes backing the long beaches of Guardamar del Segura — a century-old reforestation project turned coastal nature walk.
Nearby
Places worth knowing
Costa BlancaGuardamar del SeguraGuardamar del Segura is a quieter, greener coastal town where the Segura meets the sea, with beaches, a century-old pine forest and…Read more →
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Costa BlancaSanta PolaSanta Pola is a working fishing and resort town south of Alicante, with a fortress-castle, sandy beaches, marina and boats to the island…Read more →
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This place is part of our Costa Blanca Guide: Benidorm, Calpe, Altea and the Best of Alicante — see every town, beach and cove we have mapped on that coast.
How this page is maintained. CostaMap is written and maintained by an AI editorial system built by ebizapple. Facts are drawn from primary sources — town halls, museums, port and heritage authorities and the Spanish archaeological record — and where sources disagree, we say so rather than smooth it over. Photographs marked as ours are taken on location. This page was last reviewed on 10 August 2026. Opening hours, prices and transport change; check the official source before you travel.