If you’ve long been dreaming about joining the ranks of those cool dudes windsurfing across the azure, crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean Sea, Marbella is an excellent place for beginners and all levels of windsurfing experience.
Basic introduction and beginners’ courses start from around EUR 95.00 with around 3 hours of training per day over 2 days. Advanced courses include usually 10 hours of lessons, which are spread out over 3 to 4 days with 3 to 4 hours intensive training per day. Just normal swimwear needs to be worn for the lessons and equipment will be provided. For experienced windsurfers there are various places to hire out equipment.
Courses and best places around Marbella are at Puerto Banus, Elviria and Tarifa. At Puerto Banus it is also possible to learn kite surfing. Marbella itself offers some 27 km of suitable coastline with no fewer than 24 beaches. Schools can also be found at Cabopino, where fairly tranquil wind waves and flat waters are ideal for beginners to get a feel for the rig and sail. Stand up and paddles sessions in 18 degrees C of water temperatures are a breeze for anyone, who’s not afraid to “muck in” and fall in occasionally.
Owning a holiday home or living in the area all year round is a dream many water sport enthusiasts have. Apart from windsurfing, there is kitsesurfing, wake boarding, water and jet skiing, sailing, scuba diving, snorkelling and fishing to enjoy. Property within the price bracket of EUR 200,000 to EUR 300,000 is available in many parts of the Costa del Sol, even around Marbella, albeit not with seafront locations.
The Golden Mile, Marbella’s most expensive celebrity pad, is perhaps out off the scale for most holiday home hunters, but with so many bank repossession and developers desperate to raise cash on their stricken projects, it is possible to find Marbella properties with 50 per cent price reductions and 100 per cent finance packages.
The area has all year round rental potential, offering not just more than 300 days of sunshine per year, but also water sports, many tourist attractions that include the historic town centre, amusement parks, hiking and skiing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, cycling, tennis, golf and horse riding. Tarifa is deemed to be one of the best places in the world for both windsurfing and scuba diving, while Marbella is world famous for tennis and golf, not to mention banana rides for kids and holidaying celebrities!
For around EUR 230,000 it is possible to purchase an 85 sqm, 2-bed, 2-bath apartment with a 25 sqm sun terrace in Marbella West in a regular resale, while bank repossessions in the same part of Marbella West will offer a 99 sqm 3-bed, 2-bath apartment without sun terrace at just EUR 135,000.
Estepona apartments are available for between EUR 175,000 to EUR 245,000 and in Mijas Costa in Mijas, just a short drive away from Marbella, a 2-bed ground floor apartment can cost as little as EUR 90,000. A little further away from Marbella, but no more than a 20 minute journey by car, prices start to go down.
Here a lovely 2-bed villa set in its own garden may be as little as EUR 210,000, while villas close to the beaches of Puerto Banus will attract premium prices of around EUR 2.4 million for a 5-bed villa in its own 877 plot located in an enclosed urbanization.
From parasailing at Mistral Beach to hiking in the La Concha Mountains, which provide the gorgeous backdrop to Marbella, there’s something for everybody and buying a holiday home or permanent home in the area at the present time, makes sense for anyone looking for a long term investment as well as a change of lifestyle.
At Marbella’s beaches it is possible to hire jet skis and hydro jets or yachts on days unsuitable for windsurfing as well as joining buggy safaris that explore the woodlands and valleys away from the beaches.
There are just so many attractions apart from windsurfing - it’s hard to decide where to start the next course or lesson!