Oliva day trip from Moraira

Oliva: dunes, quiet beaches and an old town centre

Oliva is the southernmost town of the province of Valencia and borders Dénia. From Moraira the drive takes about 35 minutes by the AP-7 (some 40 km). Most people come to Oliva for the beach: 8.5 kilometres of coast with sand and dunes, without the high-rise of Benidorm or Gandia. Oliva also has a medieval centre and borders a protected wetland with a warm spring.

Beaches and dunes

The coast of Oliva is divided into six beaches, from north to south:

Aigua Morta, Aigua Blanca, Pau-Pi and Terranova have held a Blue Flag in recent years. For a quiet day on the beach, Rabdells and Aigua Blanca suit best: broad sand, dunes at your back and little building.

The old centre

Oliva has one of the lesser-known but well-preserved historic centres of the province, with steep lanes, passageways of dressed stone and old town houses. The centre is compact enough to explore on foot in an hour or two. A walk past the main sights:

• El Raval, the former Moorish quarter;
• the church of Santa María;
• Sant Roc, a church built on the site of a former mosque;
• Calle de les Moreres, with noble houses bearing family coats of arms;
• Casa Mayans, a museum that is part of the Valencian MuVIM, and the archaeological museum;
• the ruins of the castle of Santa Anna on the hill, looking out over the town and the sea.

Marjal de Pego-Oliva en Font Salada

West of the town lies the Marjal de Pego-Oliva nature park: 1,255 hectares of marsh, rice fields and channels on the boundary between the provinces of Alicante and Valencia. It is one of the last places where the marbled duck still occurs, one of the rarest ducks in Europe, and the habitat of the native samaruc, a small fish.

On the edge of the park is the Font Salada, a spring whose water stays around 23 degrees all year. Locally the water has long been valued for its effect on the skin.

Font Salada

Location: edge of the Marjal de Pego-Oliva nature park, near Oliva
Park information: park office in Pego, by appointment Mon–Fri mornings, +34 966 400 251
From Moraira: ± 35–40 min by car
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Combine it with

Oliva lies between Dénia and Gandia. A day on the beach here goes well with the Borja palace in Gandia, a quarter of an hour further north, or with a stop in Dénia on the way back. For a comparison with other beaches in the region, see the beaches near Moraira.