- window
- Work at first light: in June the sun is up around 06:50, in August at 07:27, and by midday the breeze gets going and the whole town is on the beach. Water: 14.8 degrees in February, 25.4 in August, 21.3 in October, so autumn gives a better sea than summer. Night spearfishing is banned across Spain: sunrise to sunset only.
- tide
- The tide in the Alborán Sea is more noticeable than in the rest of the Mediterranean: the level moves half a metre, sometimes seventy centimetres, but it does not decide your day. Something else does — the along-shore drift after a settled wind and the cold water rising with Poniente. After a downpour the ramblas and the Andarax mouth cloud things for a day or two.
- shelter
- The west side of the bay of Almería: the town sits under the cliffs of the Sierra de Gádor, and together with the Aguadulce and La Bajadilla breakwaters they keep the water almost flat. Divers from the port say both Poniente and Levante take longer to reach this corner. The bay opens south and south-west, so the 110-240 sector comes straight in.
- conditions
- Come with Levante or a light northerly: the water settles and over the rock at El Cañarete or in Cala de la Garrofa you see far more than over sand. Swell arrives from the 110-240 sector, worst around 130 — then the shoreline lifts sand and you are left with a couple of metres. Strong Poniente adds cold green water from below.
- hazard
- Aguadulce harbour works all year and boats run right along the breakwater: a buoy is compulsory and you may not stray more than 25 metres from it. Scuba is banned for spearfishing anywhere in Spain, and so is a loaded gun out of the water. In summer 2026 stinging Pelagia jellyfish sat off Roquetas. The catch may not be sold and the daily cap is 5 kg.
- access
- Turn-offs from the old El Cañarete road between Almería and Aguadulce: short pull-ins above Cala de la Garrofa and Cala de los Ahogados, with a rocky path down. In the town itself there is tarmac and parking by the promenade, entry off sand. From the beach to the rock ridges is about a ten-minute swim; boots are needed either way.
Rock and breakwaters to the west; mixed bottom, sea bream and gilthead, exposed to the westerly (Poniente, W).
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