Santa Pola to Calpe

North-east past Alicante, Benidorm and its island and the cliffs of the Sierra Helada, to Calpe under the Peñón de Ifach, a limestone rock about 330 m high rising straight from the sea.

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Date: Friday 14 May 2027
Distance: 43.1 nm, 8 legs
Time: 7 h 28 min
Depart: 09:30 CEST from Santa Pola. 2 hours 35 minutes after sunrise (06:53 CEST).
Arrive: About 16:58 CEST at Calpe. In the late afternoon, with about 4 hours 5 minutes of daylight in hand (sunset 21:03 CEST).
Tides: Range about 0.1 m: no practical effect
Wind: Light to moderate; sea breeze from the south-east 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

Track and waypoints 1 to 7, with ports of refuge as squares.

Go or no-go

Decide at 08:30 CEST. Go only if all of these hold:

No easterly above force 5.
Calpe berth confirmed. The club confirms short stays in July and August only 5 days ahead; in May, book early.
Visibility 2 nm or more.

If the weather is wrong, stay in Santa Pola. Alicante and Altea are stops on the way.

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	Club Náutico Santa Pola	38°11.3′N	000°33.5′W				09:30 CEST	Depart.
1	Santa Pola approach	38°10.5′N	000°33.0′W	154°T	0.9	0.9	09:43 CEST	Out of the harbour.
2	Off Cabo de Santa Pola	38°11.5′N	000°28.5′W	074°T	3.7	4.6	10:20 CEST	1.5 nm off the cape, clear of the Tabarca reserve.
3	Off Cabo de las Huertas	38°20.0′N	000°22.5′W	029°T	9.7	14.3	11:57 CEST	1.7 nm off the light (Fl(5) 19s).
4	Off Villajoyosa	38°28.5′N	000°12.0′W	044°T	11.8	26.1	13:56 CEST	2 nm off.
5	South of Benidorm island	38°29.0′N	000°07.8′W	081°T	3.3	29.5	14:29 CEST	1 nm south of the island (light Fl 3s).
6	Off Punta de l'Albir	38°32.5′N	000°01.0′W	057°T	6.4	35.8	15:33 CEST	1.3 nm off the light (LFl(3) 27s).
7	Calpe approach	38°37.6′N	000°04.4′E	040°T	6.6	42.5	16:45 CEST	South of the harbour, on the south-west side of the Peñón. Check on the chart
8	Real Club Náutico de Calpe	38°38.2′N	000°04.1′E	341°T	0.6	43.1	16:58 CEST	Position from the club.

Tides and time

Santa Pola · Fri 14 May · CEST (UTC+2)

HW	02:30	0.2 m
LW	15:54	0.1 m

From the Alicante I station.

Calpe · Fri 14 May · CEST (UTC+2)

HW	02:30	0.2 m
LW	15:54	0.1 m

From the Alicante I station.

Friday 14 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 and Calpe use 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 Santa Pola 06:53 CEST. Sunset at Calpe 21:03 CEST.

Weather

Costa Blanca. Sheltered from the north-west by the mountains. Sea breezes in the afternoon.
Levante. Onshore on this coast.

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

Alicante. A commercial and ferry port. Ships in the approach.
Benidorm. Tourist boats, jet skis and swimmers close inshore. Pass south of the island, not between it and the beach.
Peñón de Ifach Natural Park. Its rules for boats could not be checked. Check on the chart
Fish farms off parts of this coast. Check on the chart

Ports of refuge

Port	From the route	Use it when	Notes
Santa Pola	Start	Within the first hour	Club Náutico.
Alicante	2 nm from waypoint 3	Weather turns early	Marina Alicante, VHF 9, +34 965 213 600, staffed 24 h. Port entrance 13 m deep. A 4.3 m shoal lies 390 m on 318° from the Levante breakwater light.
Altea	3 nm from waypoint 6	Late or tired	Club Náutico Altea, +34 965 842 185. Entrance 4 m, basin 3 m.
Calpe	Destination	First choice	Real Club Náutico de Calpe.

Pilotage

Leaving Santa Pola

Leave the harbour and head east round Cabo de Santa Pola, keeping out of the Tabarca reserve.
Make sail for Cabo de las Huertas.

Entering Calpe

From Punta de l'Albir, head north-east toward the Peñón de Ifach.
The harbour is on the south-west side of the rock. Approach from the south.
Call the Real Club Náutico de Calpe (+34 965 831 809) for a berth. VHF and depths: Check the pilot book

Lights on the way

Santa Pola	Fl(1+2) 20s, 152 m
Alicante outer breakwater	Oc G 5s, 14 m
Cabo de las Huertas	Fl(5) 19s, 38 m
Islote de Benidorm	Fl 3s, 61 m
Albir	LFl(3) 27s, 112 m

Communications

Marina Alicante	VHF 9 · +34 965 213 600
Club Náutico Altea	+34 965 842 185
Real Club Náutico de Calpe	+34 965 831 809 · [email protected]
Emergency	VHF 16, DSC 70 · 112
Salvamento Marítimo (Spain)	Rescue coordination centres for Cádiz, Tarifa, Algeciras and Almería: numbers Check the pilot book

Contingencies

Easterly rising. Stop at Alicante or Altea.
Engine failure. Sail to Alicante, which is large and staffed 24 h.
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
Calpe berth booked

Fuel for 9 hours under engine, plus a reserve
Water, food and hot drinks for 10 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

Alicante: marinaalicante.com. Altea: cnaltea.com. Calpe: rcnc.es.
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).
NAVTEX: NGA Pub 117, chapter 3. AEMET zones: aemet.es, predicción marítima.
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.
Pilot: RCC Pilotage Foundation, Atlantic Spain and Portugal, 9th edition (2025).

A planning exercise to RYA Yachtmaster standard. Not for navigation: use current official charts, the pilot book and the forecasts on the day.

Leg 19 The voyage Leg 21