Why come to the Costa del Sol if not going to the beach?

The beach in Marbella in the Costa del Sol. Wikipedia.

 

Well, there are lots of other things to do, but the summer months (from May to almost the end of the year) are for the beach, going swimming in the sea, paddle surf, sailing, wind surfing, surfing, ....., walking, running, sun rises, sun sets, dining, dreaming, relaxing .... all year around. You can swim from May (a little bit on the fresh side) until December, sun bathing works all year round, all water sports as well, just put a neoprene suit on ("neopren" in Spanish) if you feel a bit cold or go out further like sailing a dinghy. And you will never need more than a 3mm suit, shorts for most of the year, longs form maybe December to May. So, when you are going to the beach you may want to prepare. The usual hints are always to be respected, look for the general warnings:

• Sun protection always and all year round, be carefull!! Look up the advice relevant for your skin. Use sun cream and take an umbrella, you do need the sun on your skin, but be sensible, follow the locals - in summer beach and sun times are from early morning till 11.00 and then come back around 16.00. In the interim time look for the shade and remember most fabrics will let UV rays through and you will get your sun taint even under the umbrella and T-shirt.
• for UK advice start here or here or just search online ...
• Deutschland - hier oder hier oder einfach mal online suchen ...
• and just have a look what other beach goers are doing and ask them, Spanish people may be reluctant to give you any advice, hints or even warnings voluntarily out of respect. Just ask and you should get a friendly answer ..... "Perdon, yo no hablo Español?" is always a good start, though, quite contradicting, everyone will understand, "Hay problemas en la playa aqui?", you might get help in English before you get the second phrase ....

In Spain you will see the following warning flags on beaches and during guarded times (July/August 10.00-19.00 mostly)

The yellow flag should be up if no beach guards are around and it might warn of the potential of jelly fish. At those times local and experienced beach goers will not be in the water (always a good sign to stay out if hardly anyone is splashing), they will be watching the water from the shore and kids may wade in carefully witch nets to catch the prey. To find out more look at sites like Infomedusa  (medusa = jelly fish) - they also have an App. the App also tells you about water temperature and some other conditions around. And on those days with warnings you may enjoy the pool in the gardens here, the water parks along the cost or a walk in the "hinterland" with a bath in river pools and lakes - some information is here, here or here.