Cabopino beach and sand dunes popped up on my Instagram one day and the area looked so beautiful that I couldn’t wait to explore it in person.
Cabopino is a small urbanisation area just outside of Fuengirola, with a small marina, few restaurants and nature paths along the well preserved sand dunes. This coastal area is just 15-20mins drive from Fuengirola (towards Marbella) and offers a wonderful way to escape the city and enjoy a bit of beautiful scenery.
In addition to the beautiful nature and a chance to enjoy a beach day in peace, it also has a very cool beach bar (Andy’s Beach Bar) with live music, plenty of parking spaces and – unlike other popular beach strips – it is mostly visited by locals, which his always a good sign.
Puerto de Cabopino
The little marina area in Cabopino is built around a residential complex with a few restaurants focusing on more or less the same cuisine. Only a couple of the restaurants are facing the sea, the rest of them offer a view of the harbour area.
There are boat rental options in the harbour, which are a great way to explore the coastline heading towards Marbella from a new perspective.
Portofino Restaurant
This restaurant was one of the highlights of the trip – it must have been my lucky day that we have decided to sit down here for lunch as the food was outstanding.
Portofino restaurant sits on the edge of the Marina, facing the sea and beach. It immediately stands out from the rest of the restaurants thanks to the very spacious and beautifully furnished terrace, with pretty chairs, umbrellas and immaculately dressed waiters.
My ceramics-loving heart was immediately pleased by gorgeous Sicilian inspired plates and beautiful aqua blue water glasses, laid out on crisp white tablecloths.
The menu lives up to the standard too – it offered plenty of Italian classics along with some creative variations to spoil your taste buds. We went with Margarita pizza, Salmon, Mango & Avocado Salad and my husband had a Caesar salad.
The food was absolutely delicious and presented beautifully. To finish it off, I had the fluffiest creamiest piece of Tiramisu (dreaming about it still today!).
Cabopino Sand Dunes
If you cross the beach path from Portofino, you will find yourself at a parking lot which is also the starting point for the Cabopino Dunes walking path.
There are a few options of explorations, but we went straight towards the tower and came back from the top part leading to the parking lot.
If you’re planning to see massive sand dunes just like in some Arabian desert, you will be dissapointed. Much of the dunes are covered by vegetation and the wooden path way is there to protect them from further damage and sliding down to the sea.
The walking path is especially beautiful at sunset time, when the sun glides behind the horizon creating a beautiful backdrop to the nature around you.
It’s really easy to walk through even with small kids or a pram in tow – a perfect little lazy walk with spectacular sea views and plenty of photo opportunities.
Enjoy a little virtual tour below, and if you’ve visited, let me know how you liked it in comments !
