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Winter stay

Posted: Sat May 20, 2023 5:18pm
40 replies934 views7 members subscribed
fultime

Posts: 17

4 helpful points

Location: Roquetas de Mar

Joined: 20 May 2023

We are thinking of spending 6 weeks in January and February next year in a rented apartment. We usually go to Nerja that time of year but we wanted a change of location and as we are late 60's/70 the steep hills were becoming harder although we like walking. I've read that the winter climate is quite good, is that true? Is it sunny most of the time and not cold winds? Not expecting summer temperatures of course but day time 17? 

Are the shops bars and restaurants open during January and February as everything is open in Nerja and a large Mercadona is there for all our shopping, is there similar  as will be self catering mostly and eating out occasionally. 

Any views tips ideas etc will help us to make a decision on booking, thank you in advance 

chrisso50

Posted: Sat May 20, 2023 11:43pm

chrisso50

Super helpful member

Posts: 1106

1334 helpful points

Location: Roquetas de Mar

Joined: 23 Jul 2018

Posted: Sat May 20, 2023 11:43pm

fultime wrote on Sat May 20, 2023 5:18pm:

We are thinking of spending 6 weeks in January and February next year in a rented apartment. We usually go to Nerja that time of year but we wanted a change of location and as we are late 60's/70 the steep hills were becoming harder although we like walking. I've read that the winter climate is q...

...uite good, is that true? Is it sunny most of the time and not cold winds? Not expecting summer temperatures of course but day time 17? 

Are the shops bars and restaurants open during January and February as everything is open in Nerja and a large Mercadona is there for all our shopping, is there similar  as will be self catering mostly and eating out occasionally. 

Any views tips ideas etc will help us to make a decision on booking, thank you in advance 

Yes, temps are usually good in Jan & Feb, and there is a Mercadona in the Urba, suggest you aim to rent in the area near Avenida Mediterráneo. Most tapas bars and restaurants will be open but many close on Mondays.

Occasionally it does get windy but the impact is greater the higher up a block you are. I know this as we are on sixth floor!

Chris

Matthew

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 12:13am

Matthew

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2236

3339 helpful points

Location: Mojacar

Joined: 16 May 2018

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 12:13am

Lots of people here are mainly living in Mojacar Playa, Vera, Vera Playa, Garrucha, Turre, Los Gallardos, Palomares, Mojacar Pueblo and a few areas that don’t matter 😉. There may be a poster or two (including me) who wouldn’t be caught speeding near Roquetas because we wouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to get there. I passed through Roquetas though and likely it has its good points.


Therefore, I’ll talk up Mojacar Playa and surrounding towns and hope you’ll spend your winter/spring with us. Mojacar Plays is low rise except for two hotel complexes at either end and 3 miles apart. The Playa is three miles long east/west. Stray 100 yds north (inland) and the hills are like base camp on Mt Everest. Consequently, the apartment complex is important for you unless you have climbing ropes and crampons and an oxygen tank. Stray south and you’re into the Mediterranean.

I advise to confine your stay to an apartment between Parque Commercial and Price-Browne (where those in the know want to be). Mojacar Playa has good supermarkets and Consum offers a delivery service. Thomas’s (Senor Tomas) supermarket is open more hours and where you can buy that stuff UK people call food. Even Marmite. 

Restaurants will be open, but remember some of them close for annual holidays in the off season for staff on a kind of stagger rule. Don’t worry you won’t be short of somewhere to eat well.

Local bus service is good and cheap and you can visit the nearby towns like Vera, Vera Playa, Garrucha, Carboneras for c. €2.00. Mercifully, the bus service excludes some places which proves there must be a superior being looking down on us.

Costa Almeria has a warmer and drier climate than CDS (one question answered without comment). Paseo del Mediterranean is over one mile in length and is a beautiful level promenade walk in the popular half. English is spoken almost everywhere. 

I advise you occupy an apartment with sea and Mountain View’s. You need high fibre internet and not that rent-per-month wi-fi which is mediocre at best. Before you commit to renting any apartment ensure you have total monthly charge including electricity, water, refuse, internet charges and ensure there are no add-on costs (I’m serious). Rent should be much cheaper than Nerja prices.

Although there are only two of you, I recommend you need a two bedroom apartment - gives you more space and possibility of having a friend stay whenever.

The amount of police patrolling the area is good and I think you’ll feel much safer than in CDS.

Can I say anything against Mojacar Playa? - The local taxi service is dreadful and it’s not easy to find somebody with whom you could discuss National Hunt Racing unless you meet Devo (renowned poster here) or me.

fultime

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 12:30am

fultime

Original Poster

Posts: 17

4 helpful points

Location: Roquetas de Mar

Joined: 20 May 2023

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 12:30am

Matthew wrote on Sun May 21, 2023 12:13am:

Lots of people here are mainly living in Mojacar Playa, Vera, Vera Playa, Garrucha, Turre, Los Gallardos, Palomares, Mojacar Pueblo and a few areas that don’t matter 😉. There may be a poster or two (including me) who wouldn’t be caught speeding near Roquetas because we wouldn’t be in too...

... much of a hurry to get there. I passed through Roquetas though and likely it has its good points.


Therefore, I’ll talk up Mojacar Playa and surrounding towns and hope you’ll spend your winter/spring with us. Mojacar Plays is low rise except for two hotel complexes at either end and 3 miles apart. The Playa is three miles long east/west. Stray 100 yds north (inland) and the hills are like base camp on Mt Everest. Consequently, the apartment complex is important for you unless you have climbing ropes and crampons and an oxygen tank. Stray south and you’re into the Mediterranean.

I advise to confine your stay to an apartment between Parque Commercial and Price-Browne (where those in the know want to be). Mojacar Playa has good supermarkets and Consum offers a delivery service. Thomas’s (Senor Tomas) supermarket is open more hours and where you can buy that stuff UK people call food. Even Marmite. 

Restaurants will be open, but remember some of them close for annual holidays in the off season for staff on a kind of stagger rule. Don’t worry you won’t be short of somewhere to eat well.

Local bus service is good and cheap and you can visit the nearby towns like Vera, Vera Playa, Garrucha, Carboneras for c. €2.00. Mercifully, the bus service excludes some places which proves there must be a superior being looking down on us.

Costa Almeria has a warmer and drier climate than CDS (one question answered without comment). Paseo del Mediterranean is over one mile in length and is a beautiful level promenade walk in the popular half. English is spoken almost everywhere. 

I advise you occupy an apartment with sea and Mountain View’s. You need high fibre internet and not that rent-per-month wi-fi which is mediocre at best. Before you commit to renting any apartment ensure you have total monthly charge including electricity, water, refuse, internet charges and ensure there are no add-on costs (I’m serious). Rent should be much cheaper than Nerja prices.

Although there are only two of you, I recommend you need a two bedroom apartment - gives you more space and possibility of having a friend stay whenever.

The amount of police patrolling the area is good and I think you’ll feel much safer than in CDS.

Can I say anything against Mojacar Playa? - The local taxi service is dreadful and it’s not easy to find somebody with whom you could discuss National Hunt Racing unless you meet Devo (renowned poster here) or me.

Thank you that made me chuckle. So you don't recommend roquetas then, mmm just about to book an apartment there more expensive than Nerja but a better apartment now I'm not sure 🤔

chrisso50

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 1:48am

chrisso50

Super helpful member

Posts: 1106

1334 helpful points

Location: Roquetas de Mar

Joined: 23 Jul 2018

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 1:48am

fultime wrote on Sun May 21, 2023 12:30am:

Thank you that made me chuckle. So you don't recommend roquetas then, mmm just about to book an apartment there more expensive than Nerja but a better apartment now I'm not sure 🤔

Like Matthew I also know Mojacar well and have friends there but IMO Roquetas is a better place to live - so that’s why we decided to live here.

Mojacar is 50% English-speaking so that may suit you better. Roquetas has a few Brit bars but 99% of the time locals are Spanish. The beaches and level terrain here means you have no difficulty getting around and there are 14kms of flat paseo you can walk or cycle next to the seven clean beaches, from the nature reserve all the way to Aguadulce.

But it’s not a competition, so wherever you decide to stay - Enjoy and good luck.

Chris

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fultime

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 9:54am

fultime

Original Poster

Posts: 17

4 helpful points

Location: Roquetas de Mar

Joined: 20 May 2023

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 9:54am

chrisso50 wrote on Sun May 21, 2023 1:48am:

Like Matthew I also know Mojacar well and have friends there but IMO Roquetas is a better place to live - so that’s why we decided to live here.

Mojacar is 50% English-speaking so that may suit you better. Roquetas has a few Brit bars but 99% of the time locals are Spanish. The beaches and level terrain here means you have no difficulty getting around and there are 14kms of flat paseo you can walk or cycle next to the seven clean beaches,...

... from the nature reserve all the way to Aguadulce.

But it’s not a competition, so wherever you decide to stay - Enjoy and good luck.

Chris

Thanks that sounds perfect for our needs. We are no spring chickens so don't want too many hills to climb. Is there an area I should be looking that's near to the big supermarkets etc as we will be self catering and don't want to drive if possible within fifteen minute walk but in a nice quiet area if possible? Thank you 

Matthew

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 10:37am

Matthew

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2236

3339 helpful points

Location: Mojacar

Joined: 16 May 2018

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 10:37am

More serious post from me coming up:-

1. If an apartment in Roquetas is dearer than one in Nerja, it must be luxurious and top-of-the-range (or the one in Nerja was bottom of the range, just saying!). Tread carefully on rent anywhere. Check everything again. 

2. If you had been using Roquetas in previous years and deciding between Nerja and Mojacar Playa the vested interests in Nerja would be hammering away and being pretty economic with the truth. (Many threads on TripAdvisor prove this).

3. I feel your mind is fully made up and Roquetas is your winner (and fair enough!) - I'm not going to try to change  your mind. I've vested interests in Mojacar but I would always be 100% truthful about the resort (see my previous posts, even the cynical ones).

4. Rental charges in Nerja are usually very expensive (hence the vested interests brigade who moan vehemently about a plastic advertising sign outside of some "cherished" eatery probably touting fish 'n' chips like grandma makes). Use a good well located 2 bedroom apartment in Mojacar Playa as a price guide which would rent for €900 pm (includes electricity, water, refuse, cleaning, internet and no extras).

5. Don't get screwed wherever you are renting; that would do no good to anybody. We used to let our apartment through a rental agency in Mojacar which I had reason to cease. When I queued to collect our keys I overhead a discussion between the agent and an elderly couple. He screwed them with deposit against dis, dat, dother and administration fees that Quentin Tarantino couldn't dream up. My conscience was playing games with me and I sought the couple when I had collected the keys. I found them drinking coffee in a nearby café and informed them that they were being screwed from a height and I felt deflated when they dismissed me as a crank. 

6. Enjoy Roquetas and the warm winds that blow in its beaches. Take in the sun, climate, culture, etc and enjoy. And please come back and share with us.

chrisso50

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 10:43am

chrisso50

Super helpful member

Posts: 1106

1334 helpful points

Location: Roquetas de Mar

Joined: 23 Jul 2018

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 10:43am

fultime wrote on Sun May 21, 2023 9:54am:

Thanks that sounds perfect for our needs. We are no spring chickens so don't want too many hills to climb. Is there an area I should be looking that's near to the big supermarkets etc as we will be self catering and don't want to drive if possible within fifteen minute walk but in a nice quiet ar...

...ea if possible? Thank you 

The Urba in RdM - where we live - is quiet most of the time. (Further to the south there is the hotels zone where there are numerous bars and restaurants, cycle hire, car hire etc. That’s a twenty mins walk away but that’s noisier than here in the Urba where it’s neither in the main city nor jammed with tourists, but everything you need is close at hand, in walking distance, flat and close to the beach.)
Spain is a noisy place at times of course  when kids rev up their motorbikes and cars in the 30 zone! The two main roads here are Avenida Mediterráneo and Avenida Rosita Ferrer: before we moved here to live we stayed in three rentals around this spot. There is plenty of street parking but some rentals come with underground parking. Mercadona is just 100m away, further away there’s Consum, Spar, Dia etc. 

And Almeria City is less than a 30 mins drive away - not to be missed - visit the 1000 year old Alcazabar and Cathedral and if keen: IKEA, which opens in July!


Chris

Airtaine

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 10:53am

Airtaine

Helpful member

Posts: 326

320 helpful points

Location: Mojacar

Joined: 27 Jun 2022

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 10:53am

Hi fultime

I just want to second what Matthew wrote, not that he needs it he's a well know character and knowledgable poster on this forum but I want to point out an area of Mojácar Playa with less daunting hills, no sherpas required to take the groceries home.

Having looked places from Cullera to Allicante and then living in Xábia for a 9 months. Again nice but very built up. It looks like the gods of urban development sneezed on the hills filling every availalbe space with houses plus it's VERY expensive. It's part of an area referred to as the ''Golden Triangle''. We also found once you left the commerical districts there were absolutely no foot paths with the roads being insanely narrow. Barely room for two cars. If you wanted to walk anywhere outside of the towns you were risking life and limb.

We then began looking at places form Puerto de la Duquesa to Marbella- lovely but out of our budget. While out that way we looked into the area between Tarifa up to Jerez de la Frontera again lovely but the coast was way to windy, couldn't walk on the beach in shorts without getting you legs sandblasted. 

We have seen a lot of palces  and for various reasons ruled them out.

We then explored places from Elche to Puerto de Mazarrón and up to Húescar Granada- where we bought a cave house beautiful quite peacefull but turns out not for us, we miss the sea.  

So we looked into places from Aguilas to Mojácar

 We got an apartment in Las Buganvillas which is very nice but very quite in winter. 

We have finally settled on Mojácar Playa at the other end away from the crowds in the Vista de los Ángeles-Rumina area  before you cross the river into hotel land. Its not as busy as the area from the Parque Comercial to the Best Indalo but with in easy walking distance to the center and a short bus ride to the Pueblo or the Red Cross roundabout where as mentioned there are loads of bars resturants cafes shops etc.. 

If you would like that ''Spanish experience'' the bus in the other direction go to the lovely fishing town of Garrucha where there are numerous good Spainsh restaurants. Please be aware thought that some are closed in winter and if they are open they only open for dinner at 8PM. 

Any shops that stay open during the winter also close from around 2 PM unitl around 6 PM 

As for Roquetas de Mar, I am sorry to say I can not speak to it. We were going to look into it and saw a lot of reallly nice places on the interweb apartments, houses, beach walks, resturants etc.  

We never even made it as we came over the hills on the motorway past Almeria and saw RdM in the distance it was  all high rises stuff we looked at each other and said 'nope!'.

We got off on the first availalbe exit and turned around .It seemed to be only really a suburb of Almera and again not for us . 

As has been pointed out by numerous posters on this forum, with a WIDE variety of opinions and likes  it all depends on what you want, what, your looking for and what you are willing to spend.

After all this all I suggest is either RdM or Mojácar

Give it a try first and see if it's for you.  

chrisso50

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 11:00am

chrisso50

Super helpful member

Posts: 1106

1334 helpful points

Location: Roquetas de Mar

Joined: 23 Jul 2018

Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 11:00am

Airtaine wrote on Sun May 21, 2023 10:53am:

Hi fultime

I just want to second what Matthew wrote, not that he needs it he's a well know character and knowledgable poster on this forum but I want to point out an area of Mojácar Playa with less daunting hills, no sherpas required to take the groceries home.

Having looked places from Cullera to Allicante and then living in Xábia for a 9 months. Again nice but very built up. It looks like the gods of urban development sneezed on the hills filling every availalbe space with houses plus it's VERY expensive. It's part of an area referred to as the ''Golden Triangle''. We also found once you left the commerical districts there were absolutely no foot paths with the roads being insanely narrow. Barely room for two cars. If you wanted to walk anywhere outside of the towns you were risking life and limb.

We then began looking at places form Puerto de la Duquesa to Marbella- lovely but out of our budget. While out that way we looked into the area between Tarifa up to Jerez de la Frontera again lovely but the coast was way to windy, couldn't walk on the beach in shorts without getting you legs sandblasted. 

We have seen a lot of palces  and for various reasons ruled them out.

We then explored places from Elche to Puerto de Mazarrón and up to Húescar Granada- where we bought a cave house beautiful quite peacefull but turns out not for us, we miss the sea.  

So we looked into places from Aguilas to Mojácar

 We got an apartment in Las Buganvillas which is very nice but very quite in winter. 

We have finally settled on Mojácar Playa at the other end away from the crowds in the Vista de los Ángeles-Rumina area  before you cross the river into hotel land. Its not as busy as the area from the Parque Comercial to the Best Indalo but with in easy walking distance to the center and a short bus ride to the Pueblo or the Red Cross roundabout where as mentioned there are loads of bars resturants cafes shops etc.. 

If you would like that ''Spanish experience'' the bus in the other direction go to the lovely fishing town of Garrucha where there are numerous good Spainsh restaurants. Please be aware thought that some are closed in winter and if they are open they only open for dinner at 8PM. 

Any shops that stay open during the winter also close from around 2 PM unitl around 6 PM 

As for Roquetas de Mar, I am sorry to say I can not speak to it. We were going to look into it and saw a lot of reallly nice places on the interweb apartments, houses, beach walks, resturants etc.  

We never even made it as we came over the hills on the motorway past Almeria and saw RdM in the distance it was  all high rises stuff we looked at each other and said 'nope!'.

We got off on the first availalbe exit and turned around .It seemed to be only really a suburb of Almera and again not for us . 

As has been pointed out by numerous posters on this forum, with a WIDE variety of opinions and likes  it all depends on what you want, what, your looking for and what you are willing to spend.

After all this all I suggest is either RdM or Mojácar

Give it a try first and see if it's for you.  

There are a few high rises in Roquetas, a city of 100,000. But you will see most of them as you leave the Aguadulce tunnel on the A7 out of Almeria city are in Aguadulce, (a northern district of RdM and closest to Almeria city) not Roquetas itself. Some folk speak highly of Aguadulce but we decided not to live or even stay there, because of the high rise blocks and the reduced options. It’s also hillier!

Chris

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