Leg 19 of 97 · Passage plan · RYA Yachtmaster standard
Cartagena to Santa Pola
Round Cabo de Palos outside the Islas Hormigas marine reserve, north past the Mar Menor and Torrevieja to Tabarca, a walled island village in a marine reserve, and across to Santa Pola for the night.
07:45 CEST from Cartagena. 50 minutes after sunrise (06:57 CEST). A long day with a stop.
Arrive
About 19:48 CEST at Santa Pola. In the early evening, with about 1 hour 15 minutes of daylight in hand (sunset 21:04 CEST).
Tides
Range about 0.1 m: no practical effect
Wind
Levante on the beam after Cabo de Palos; sea breezes in the afternoon
Boat
35 to 38 ft sailing yacht, 1.9 m draught, 6 kn under sail, 5.5 kn under engine
Crew
Skipper and 3 crew, 2 watches of 2. The stop at Tabarca depends on permission: see Hazards
Track and waypoints 1 to 9, with ports of refuge as squares.
Go or no-go
Decide at 06:45 CEST. Go only if all of these hold:
No Levante above force 5: it is on the beam north of Cabo de Palos and heaps up the sea off the cape.
Visibility 2 nm or more.
Santa Pola berth confirmed.
For the stop only: Tabarca permission or a confirmed berth or buoy.
If the weather is wrong, stay in Cartagena. If it turns after Cabo de Palos, Torrevieja is the stop. Without permission for Tabarca, pass it at 6 to 10 kn and go straight to Santa Pola.
Route and waypoints
Waypoints are planning positions in open water, checked against a 1:10m coastline to be at least 1 nm off land except at the harbour ends. Distances and courses are calculated from them. Plot every one on the current chart before use. Courses are true.
#
Waypoint
Latitude
Longitude
Course
Leg nm
Total nm
ETA
Notes
0
Yacht Port Cartagena
37°35.7′N
000°58.6′W
07:45 CEST
Depart.
1
Cartagena approach
37°34.4′N
000°58.6′W
178°T
1.3
1.3
08:01 CEST
Out between the breakwaters.
2
Off Portmán
37°32.8′N
000°51.0′W
105°T
6.2
7.6
09:03 CEST
2 nm off.
3
South of Cabo de Palos
37°35.8′N
000°40.5′W
070°T
8.9
16.4
10:32 CEST
South of the Islas Hormigas reserve. Do not cut inside.
4
South-east of Las Hormigas
37°37.0′N
000°35.0′W
075°T
4.5
20.9
11:17 CEST
Outside the reserve's eastern edge.
5
East of Las Hormigas
37°41.5′N
000°35.0′W
000°T
4.5
25.4
12:02 CEST
Outside the reserve. Turn north-west.
6
East of Isla Grosa
37°44.0′N
000°39.5′W
305°T
4.4
29.8
12:46 CEST
2 nm off the island (light Fl 3s).
7
Off Torrevieja
37°57.0′N
000°38.0′W
005°T
13.1
42.9
14:56 CEST
2.5 nm off the harbour.
8
Tabarca, north side
38°10.0′N
000°28.7′W
029°T
14.9
57.8
17:26 CEST to 18:56
Inside the reserve: 6 to 10 kn, no anchoring. Stop only where permission allows. Check on the chart
9
Santa Pola approach
38°10.5′N
000°33.0′W
278°T
3.4
61.2
19:30 CEST
South-east of the harbour. Check on the chart
10
Club Náutico Santa Pola
38°11.3′N
000°33.5′W
334°T
0.9
62.1
19:48 CEST
Position approximate. Check on the chart
Tides and time
Cartagena · Thu 13 May · CEST (UTC+2)
LW
01:21
0.2 m
HW
09:22
0.3 m
LW
16:25
0.1 m
HW
23:19
0.3 m
Santa Pola · Thu 13 May · CEST (UTC+2)
HW
02:22
0.2 m
LW
15:03
0.1 m
From the Alicante I station.
Thursday 13 May 2027. Tides. The range here is 0.1 to 0.3 m: tides make no practical difference. Wind and air pressure move the sea level more than the tide does.
Santa Pola uses the Alicante station.
Tide times are predictions made for this plan from the TICON-4 harmonic constants (DGFI-TUM) with the Neaps tide predictor, because the official 2027 tables were not yet published when it was written. Tested against the official APDL table for Leixões on 23 July 2026, the predicted times were within 8 minutes and the heights 0.1 to 0.2 m lower. Heights are above lowest astronomical tide. Check every time against the official 2027 table before sailing.
Daylight. Sunrise at Cartagena 06:57 CEST. Sunset at Santa Pola 21:04 CEST.
Weather
Cabo de Palos. The corner between the Murcia and Alicante coasts: wind accelerates and the sea is rougher there.
Levante. North of Cabo de Palos the coast faces east, so an easterly is onshore.
Forecasts to check
AEMET coastal bulletins, aemet.es, predicción marítima: “Costa de Andalucía Oriental y Melilla” (Aguas costeras de Almería) and “Costa de Valencia y Murcia” (Aguas costeras de Murcia, del Mar Menor, de Alicante, de Valencia). High-seas areas Alborán, Palos and Baleares.
NAVTEX Cabo de la Nao: 518 kHz, station X, at 0350, 0750, 1150, 1550, 1950 and 2350 UTC, in English; 490 kHz, station M, in Spanish. Check the times against the Admiralty List of Radio Signals. Check the pilot book
Hazards
Cabo de Palos-Islas Hormigas marine reserve. A strip of sea running north-east from Cabo de Palos past the Hormigas islets, between 37°38.726′N 000°41.822′W, 37°40.826′N 000°37.672′W, 37°39.626′N 000°36.722′W and 37°37.476′N 000°40.872′W. Inside it boats in transit must keep between 6 and 10 kn, anchoring is prohibited, and fishing and jet skis are banned. A circle of 0.5 nm round the Hormiga light (37°39.316′N 000°38.952′W) is an integral reserve, for authorised science only. The route goes round the outside.
Isla de Tabarca marine reserve. Between 38°09.550′N 000°24.530′W, 38°08.223′N 000°25.054′W, 38°10.860′N 000°29.710′W and 38°09.560′N 000°30.222′W, round the island. Transit at 6 to 10 kn, as far offshore as possible. Anchoring is prohibited except in an emergency, the buoys are for dive boats only, and all recreational fishing is banned. Swimming and snorkelling only within 200 m of beaches and 50 m of the rest of the coast. Boats that are not just passing through report entry and exit on VHF 9, 08:00 to 22:00.
Stopping at Tabarca. The island's harbour and any buoy field near it are in inner waters, under the regional government's rules, which could not be checked. Confirm before the day whether a visiting yacht may berth or pick up a buoy. Without that, pass by.
Mar Menor and Torrevieja. Shallow water and fish farms off the Mar Menor; keep 2 nm off.
Ports of refuge
Port
From the route
Use it when
Notes
Cartagena
Start
Within the first 2 hours
Yacht Port Cartagena.
Torrevieja
2.5 nm from waypoint 7
Weather turns north of Cabo de Palos
Real Club Náutico Torrevieja, +34 965 710 112.
Santa Pola
Destination
First choice
Club Náutico Santa Pola, +34 965 412 403.
Pilotage
Leaving Cartagena
Leave the marina and the harbour between the breakwaters, watching for ships.
Head east along the coast past Portmán.
Tabarca, then Santa Pola
At Tabarca, call the reserve service on VHF 9 if stopping. Keep 6 to 10 kn inside the reserve.
From Tabarca, cross north-west to Santa Pola.
Call the Club Náutico Santa Pola (+34 965 412 403) for a berth. VHF and depths: Check the pilot book
Lights on the way
Escombreras islet
Fl 5s, 65 m
Cabo de Palos
Fl(2) 10s, 81 m
Las Hormigas
Fl(3) 14s, 24 m
Isla Grosa
Fl 3s, 97 m
El Estacio
Fl(4) 20s, 32 m
Torrevieja breakwater
Fl G 3s
Tabarca
Oc(2) 10s, 29 m
Santa Pola
Fl(1+2) 20s, 152 m
Communications
Yacht Port Cartagena
VHF 9 · +34 968 121 213
Marine reserve services (Palos and Tabarca)
VHF 9, 08:00 to 22:00
Real Club Náutico Torrevieja
+34 965 710 112 · night duty +34 679 183 104
Club Náutico Santa Pola
+34 965 412 403
Emergency
VHF 16, DSC 70 · 112
Salvamento Marítimo (Spain)
Rescue coordination centres for Cádiz, Tarifa, Algeciras and Almería: numbers Check the pilot book
Contingencies
Levante north of Cabo de Palos. Stop at Torrevieja.
No permission at Tabarca. Pass by and swim at Santa Pola.
Running late. If Torrevieja is passed after 16:30 CEST, skip the Tabarca stop.
Person overboard. Shout, point, throw the danger buoy, press MOB, DSC distress alert, Mayday on 16.
Before leaving
Forecasts read and logged before the go or no-go time
Spanish notices to mariners (Avisos a los Navegantes) checked for the route
Waypoints entered and checked against the chart
Ship's log started in UTC
Crew briefing: route, watches, safety gear, MOB, fog
Tabarca permission confirmed, or the stop dropped
Fuel for 12 hours under engine, plus a reserve
Water, food and hot drinks for 12 hours
Lifejackets with crotch straps, jackstays rigged, harnesses
Liferaft, grab bag, flares in date, handheld VHF
Radar, AIS and navigation lights tested
Passports, boat papers and insurance aboard
Sources
Cabo de Palos-Islas Hormigas reserve: Orden APM/660/2017 (boe.es).
Isla de Tabarca reserve: Orden APA/102/2019 (boe.es).
Torrevieja: rcnt.com. Santa Pola: clubnauticosantapola.com.
Spanish ports: puertosdeandalucia.es port pages; club and marina websites listed above.
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory, Spain (ibiblio.org/lighthouse/esane.htm, esmc.htm, esvc.htm).
Tides: predictions from TICON-4 harmonic constants (Hart-Davis, Dettmering and Seitz, DGFI-TUM, 2025, doi 10.17882/109129) with Neaps (openwaters.io). Check against the Instituto Hidrográfico 2027 tables.
Sunrise and sunset: calculated (NOAA method).
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory (Rowlett), ibiblio.org/lighthouse, Portugal pages revised August 2024. Cross-check with the IH List of Lights, volume I.