Santa Pola Fishing Port

In the summer, it is very easy to get to Tabarka Island from Alicante. There is a pier on the waterfront where you can take a boat trip to the island. However, I visited Alicante in early January, and there was no activity at the pier. Instead, I decided to travel to the fishing town of Santa Paula, which has year-round connections to Tabarka. There is a bus service from Alicante's bus station to Santa Paula every hour, and the journey takes approximately 50 minutes, followed by a 10-minute walk to the port. At the port, I quickly found the boat I needed, the Faro de Tabarca catamaran. At the kiosk opposite the dock, I checked the schedule and purchased a round-trip ticket for 15 euros. In winter, the catamaran departs once a day at 12:00, with more departures on holidays (the current schedule and prices can be found on the website islatabarca.com).

I had about half an hour to spare, so I walked along the fishing harbor's docks.

The trawlers have already returned from their morning fishing.

After washing, the nets were stretched out to dry on the docks.

Another tourist catamaran with underwater portholes for observing marine life in the shallows.

In addition to the fishing boats, there were several luxurious yachts in the harbor.

There is a museum ship in the port - a fishing trawler. The museum was open, but there was no time to visit.

Soon I was on board the Faro de Tabarca and we were on our way. There were a dozen and a half tourists besides me.

In the harbor, they passed a sailing yacht also heading out to sea.

Our catamaran rounded the tip of the protective breakwater with the lighthouse and headed towards the Tabarka Archipelago.