Spain / Andalusia
Playa de Nerja
Playa de Nerja is a 239 m-long beach facing south, 2.6 km east of Nerja (Andalusia, Spain). The sea averages 23.7 °C in August, its warmest month, and 15.1 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in July–September.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa de Nerja
Beach-day index 6.6/10 · Spain median 6.7
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 15.3 °C | 15.1 °C | 15.3 °C | 16.1 °C | 17.7 °C | 20.0 °C | 22.3 °C | 23.7 °C | 21.9 °C | 19.7 °C | 17.3 °C | 16.1 °C |
| High °C | 12° | 13° | 16° | 19° | 23° | 29° | 32° | 32° | 27° | 22° | 16° | 13° |
| Low °C | 4° | 4° | 6° | 9° | 12° | 17° | 20° | 20° | 17° | 13° | 7° | 5° |
| Rain mm | 40 | 43 | 56 | 42 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 47 | 61 | 53 |
| Cloud % | 57 | 55 | 55 | 52 | 41 | 25 | 19 | 23 | 35 | 48 | 58 | 61 |
| Wind m/s | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| Daylight h | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.5 | 11.3 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| Record high/low | 20°/-5° | 23°/-4° | 27°/-2° | 27°/1° | 34°/4° | 36°/9° | 39°/12° | 39°/13° | 38°/11° | 31°/1° | 25°/-0° | 23°/-2° |
| Beach index | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 6.8 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 6.6 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in June–September; August scores 9.4/10 with highs of 32 °C, sea at 23.7 °C and 3 mm of rain.
In August that is 0.5 points above the median of the 2,246 beaches in Spain covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 0.5 °C warmer than the Spain median for August (23.2 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 18.4 °C, cooler than 55% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (61 mm) and July the driest (1 mm); the yearly total is about 400 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.7 hours in December to 14.7 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 07:31 and sets at 21:08 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south (170°). Open water fills about 42% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in December–January; in mid-December it goes down at 18:00 local time on a bearing of 241°.
Sunrise is over the sea in October–February.
Straight out to the south the next coast is roughly 120 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 31 m deep and 78 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 98 m above sea level 500 m inland and 224 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 53% tree cover, 22% built-up land and 14% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 43% of that circle.
- Tree 53%
- Built 22%
- Grass 14%
- Shrub 8%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 8Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 3Public toilets
- –Showers
- 3Drinking water
- 18Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 6Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Grocery shops
- 1Water-sports spots
- 3Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 2Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 7 restaurants and 1 café. Accommodation: 6 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Viewpoints
- El acueducto del Águila 570 m NW
Attractions & museums
- Cueva de Nerja attraction 930 m N
Nature
- Cueva de Nerja cave entrance 930 m N
- Cueva del Lobo Marino cave entrance 1.4 km W
Diving & boat hire
- Kayak Maro 960 m E
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| F.G.L. Airport Granada-Jaén Airport Granada | GRX | 48.8 km | north |
| Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport Málaga | AGP | 59.0 km | west |
| Almería Airport Almería | LEI | 132 km | east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 3 bus stops within 1.5 km and 18 mapped car parks within 1 km.
4 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 45.5K residents); within 30 km there are 30 (about 275.4K).
Map
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Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 14.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w143731762; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2C_30SVF_20250815_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 5.4K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.