Tarifa is one of the best kitesurfing spots in the world and that is a fact. Guaranteeing 4 days of wind per week, Tarifa attracts different levels of kitesurfers from all over the world. There are loads of kitesurfing schools in Tarifa so everyone can give it a go. From my personal experience, I can tell you that you will need at least 4 days of training to actually get somewhere with kitesurfing, but it will be so worth it! So let me help you plan the best kitesurfing holiday.
In this blog article, you will find everything you need to know about accommodations, car rental, beaches, best food & drink places in Tarifa and a few special tips.
Everything you need to know about Tarifa!
How to get to Tarifa and how to get around Tarifa
Things to do in Tarifa
Accommodations in Tarifa
Best food and drink places in Tarifa
Kitesurfing Tarifa
Video
Tarifa to Morocco
How to get to Tarifa and how to get around Tarifa
Tarifa is located on the ‘Costa del Luz’, in the province of Cadiz, Andalusia. The two biggest and closest airports are Sevilla and Malaga. The closest one is Jerez, but it is quite small, so fewer flights are available unless you travel from countries nearby or from the North of Spain.
I highly recommend renting a car in one of the airports and drive to Tarifa because it will be much easier and transport is very useful to get from Tarifa Old Town to the best kitesurfing spots. You can use public transport, but if you want to save time and energy having the freedom of your own transport is ideal. There are beaches by Tarifa town, so you can do without if you are only staying around the city centre but all the best kitesurfing beaches are a 5/10 minute drive away, so if you are coming to Tarifa for kitesurfing I highly recommend a rental, so you can explore the coast. Additionally, there are some good kitesurfing rentals and shops on the main road between Tarifa town and the beaches.
I have to mention here that my absolute favourite breakfast place, ‘Banti’ is on that road too and the easiest way to get to it is by car. Banti: https://bantitarifa.com/ (no advertisement, I purely love the food there and would highly recommend to anyone)
In Spain the cheapest car rental options you will always find are on ‘Do You Spain’ - https://www.doyouspain.com/index.htm
Things to do in Tarifa
Rock Climbing - Beti Mount
Quad Tour (You can also communicate with them on Instagram @quadsaventuratarifa)
Yoga on the beach (for this you have to look out once you are there. The place where you stay most probably will know at that time what is available)
And my personal favourite - hiking! In my video, I am showing you my top 3 routes, but all my routes in Spain I find on the ‘All Trails’ app. It is very easy to use and you can find the best hiking routes in Tarifa for yourself.
Accommodations in Tarifa
Tarifa has something for everyone's taste. You can find 5* hotels, hostels and stylish AirBnBs, but the most popular place where to stay in Tarifa is camping.
I personally have stayed in many different places and all of them have been up to standard, you just need to choose what suits you best.
I will only drop a few hotel names that are very popular between locals and visitors:
Best food and drink places in Tarifa
Most of the good places are in the Tarifa Old Town, but there are a few specific ones outside the town. Party wise too, once you finish dinner you most probably will stay in the old town as all the best bars are there.
My top 3 restaurants in Tarifa are:
I have to mention here ‘Vaca Loca’. I personally haven’t been there because it is a proper meat place and I am almost a vegetarian, but everyone I know is talking very highly of this place as being one of the best meat places ever. So if you are a steak lover, this place is for you.
For bars, I definitely recommend this one specific street:
This is one of the busiest streets in Tarifa and all the bars are great there. All the other bars are 2/5 min walking distance from here.
Talking about Tarifa nightlife I have to mention ‘Cafe del Mar’, which is the biggest and most popular club in Tarifa. The only problem, it is a bit outside the Tarifa centre.
Food and drink wise, most of the beach bars by the beach are great for that too. As I mentioned in the video, my top 3 are:
Kitesurfing Tarifa
I am far from an expert to talk about kitesurfing, but I just wanted to mention 2 spots that are specifically popular among kitesurfers: Playa de Los Lances & Valdevaqueros.
Also, I would like to mention a great page to track the wind and plan the best days for kitesurfing: www.windfinder.com.
I hope this Tarifa Travel Blog was useful and will help you plan a great holiday. If you haven’t seen the video, here it is:
Tarifa to Morocco
As I mentioned in the video Tarifa is a great point from where to travel to Morocco, specifically Tangier. Tarifa has a big port offering commercial ferries to Tangier at least twice a day there and back. The company doing this is called FRS, more about timetables and tickets you can find here: https://www.frs.es/en/
Note: Due to the Covid pandemic currently travelling by sea is not available. (02.01.2022.) The alternative is to take a flight from Malaga to Marrakesh.