One of my favorite things about living in Granada is how close the beach is! Last week, I took a day trip to Nerja with a friend and had an absolute blast. After a quick photo-op in town, we went to the wonderful and secret Maro Beach.
I’m from the Midwest in the United States. Specifically, I’m from the good ole state of Ohio. Most foreigners have barely heard of it. While it’s a great place to grow up, it’s pretty land-locked. The closest beach was at least a 6-hour drive away. So for me, the beach was always reserved for vacation. I went maybe once a year.
It is crazy and awesome to me that the beach is so close here in Granada. So of course a day trip to Maro Beach was in order.
How to get there?
Getting to the town of Nerja from Granada or Malaga is super easy. I would recommend that you download the app GoEuro. On here, you can find bus tickets. I also would recommend you take a look at Blablacar a few days before you plan your trip. There are often people already going who you can ride-share with, especially in the summer. Everyone and their mom (and actually really because Spain and families) is at the beach during the month of August in Spain.
However once you are in Nerja, getting to Maro Beach could be a tad more tricky. We had a car, so we just drove and parked. There’s apparently an Alsa bus that runs from Nerja to the town of Maro. From there, you could explore and wander down to the beach.
Where we ate
We arrived in Nerja around 2 p.m. Spanish lunch time starts around 2, so it was perfect. We decided to do lunch in Nerja since there would probably be more options than in Maro. We ended up at a Chiringuito Mauri. I ate a dish called “espetos” in Spanish. It’s basically grilled sardines. I took a picture, but it got deleted as I was having phone issues last week.
Nerja and views
Nerja in general was absolutely beautiful. The beach right next to the town was beautiful and what many people say is one of the prettiest beaches in the entire region. I could see why.
This spot is also a popular spot for photos. Since I went in August, it was probably more populated than normal.
When I looked at the GoEuro app, I saw that there were frequent and direct buses from Granada to Nerja. I believe that the last one back was at 7 p.m. So it’s totally possible to take a day trip down to the town of Nerja from Granada. The town is literally right next to the beach.
Maro Beach
Maro Beach is maybe a 5-10 minute drive from Nerja. It sits right under the cliffs in between some rocks. There is one stand where you can buy water, beer and snacks. So if you were wanting a full meal, it’s probably best to eat in the town of Maro or in Nerja like we did.
It was surprisingly crowded for it being more of a hidden beach. However I noticed less foreigners on this beach than back at Nerja. Perhaps Maro Beach is more popular amongst the locals.
Maro Beach just as the sun was setting. It was such an amazing view.
It was way more crowded than this when we first arrived.
I opted for comfort over anything for this beach visit. August in Southern Spain is HOT, so I basically live my life in dresses and tank tops. This was a simple sundress I found at a shop in Madrid almost two years ago. I paired it with my super worn-out black sandals. I have a problem where if I like a pair of shoes, I wear them until I no longer can. That was the case with these black sandals.
What do you look for when choosing a beach?
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