Went to Estepona last year, was great, food amazing. Looking to try somewhere new in Spain but along same lines - one/ two week's stay in July, walking distance to beaches, authentic food and a town with shops but not overrun with tourists...
Was considering Tarifa but looks to be too windy for sunbathing, is this right? Or Cabo de Gato - but I can't seem to pin down where to stay in this area exactly? Any advice most welcome. Cheers!
Try the beaches in Asturias or Cantabria or even Galicia. They are not so over run by tourists, especially non Spanish.
Although Tarifa is famous for strong winds I wouldn't let that put you off. In reality theres only a few days that wind blown sand makes the beaches uncomfortable and even then , since the stong Levante wind is slightly offshore, theres always a sheltered spot you can find if you really need to sunbathe. I read in the local paper a couple of years ago the 75% of the tourists in Tarifa don't windsurf or kitesurf.
This site has pretty reliable wind forcasts for Tarifa (if anything they make it look windier than it really is)
Discalimer - I'm a windsurfer so maybe my idea of whats windy is slightly different to yours
:-)
There were gale warnings for Tarifa yesterday! It would have been unbearable for a non-surfer anywhere within 50 kms of the coast but especially on the coast itself. The forecast is very similar for today and tomorrow. It would be, let´s say, inconvenient if you´d booked accommodation there only to find that the wind was blowing hard for a few days.
However, if you found Estepona attractive I´m not convinced that you´d find either Tarifa or the Cabo de Gata (note spelling) to be your cup of tea. When did you go to Estepona? Was it in July?
Maybe try Conil de la Frontera - the beaches here are superb and although it is a little touristy, its very Spanish so not 'Brit Touristy' if you know what I mean.
We have visitied many times and ike the place - like Tarifa its a popular escape from the Costa del Sol for us locals.
Conil de la Frontera is about 45 minutes further west by car from Tarifa - see map at the bottom of this page:
http://www.yougodo.com/en/Spain/Andalusia/Conil-de-la-Frontera/things-to-do/L2519289.aspx
From Conil its easy to get to Cadiz, Jerez, Doñana National park, etc which are all stunning places.
If you want to stick to the south of Spain I'd consider the beaches of Cadiz and Huelva: Conil as mentioned above, Zahara de los Atunes, Mazagon, Punta Umbria.
You will have a very very different feeling compared with Estepona. Much more "deep Spain" if you want to call it like that. It depends what you are looking for. There will be no british pubs there.
If you want a change, Galicia has really beautiful beaches: O Vao (Vigo), Islas Cies, A Lanzada, Nerga...
Up north the weather will be trickier if you don't go in the summer, and the water is colder as well.