Climbing holidays on the Costa Blanca

Spain is a great place for a climbing holiday, and with cheap flights from many different locations, it can be done on a budget, too.

The Costa Blanca has loads of different options for climbers, no matter what level of experience they have. And as it's such a popular beach destination as well, there is a huge choice of accommodation available there.

Due to the oppressive summer heat, the best time of year to pack your climbing shoes is during the winter - from November to April. Although you can get heavy rain during the winter, it's generally sunny and fresh, so perfect for climbing.

The Costa Blanca is principally a limestone area, and most of the climbing routes are either on the coast or in the mountains. As well as bolted routes, there are also multipitch routes for sports climbing.

Here's a round-up of the main climbing areas:

In the Xalo Valley there are lots of multipitch routes and you can also do single pitch sports routes. The Segaria crag offers a number of different options.

Calpe is the place to go if you like coastal climbing. It's a great spot as all the routes overlook the sea. You'll be spoilt for choice as there are almost 300 routes on eight crags.

At Gandia there are mainly single pitch sports routes on six different crags. There are more than 700 routes.

Alicante has thirteen different crags and a variety of routes - sports single and two-pitch and the Reconco crag has fully bolted multi-pitch routes.

Benidorm has six crags and over 450 routes. They vary from lower grades for novices through to more demanding levels. At Puig Campana, there are multipitch routes. Be prepared to carry your climbing equipment an hour to reach the starting point.

Although Murcia only has three crags, there are 240 routes which are suitable for sports climbing. Leyva is a really popular crag with multipitch routes.

So the question isn't really where to climb on the Costa Blanca - it's more a question of how much you can fit into one holiday.

Photo credit: dir112

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