Costa Blanca (Valencian Community)
Levante and Poniente beaches
Benidorm's two great Blue Flag beaches, free to use: Levante for the lively, bar-backed strip and Poniente for a wider, calmer morning swim.
Where
Benidorm, Spain
Opening hours
Open access (always open). Lifeguards and sunbed hire run set hours in the main season; the beachfront bars and chiringuitos keep their own times, busiest from late morning into the evening.
Tickets
Free — no ticket needed to use either beach. You only pay if you hire a sunbed and parasol (a few euros per item per day) or buy from the bars behind.
Time needed
Half a day per beach, or split your trip: Poniente for a morning swim, Levante for an afternoon and evening on the strip.
In short
Visiting Levante and Poniente beaches
These two long sandy beaches are the whole reason most people come to Benidorm, and both are free to use with Blue Flag status. Levante is the busy, bar-backed party strip; Poniente is wider, calmer and better for a morning swim. You only pay for a sunbed or parasol. Go early in summer to claim space before the strip fills up.
Two beaches, two moods
Benidorm hangs off the back of these two beaches, and the honest truth is they’re better than the high-rise skyline lets you expect: long, well-kept, Blue Flag sand that costs nothing to use. Levante, on the eastern side, is the famous strip — backed by a wall of bars, busiest in the afternoon and humming into the night. It’s where the resort’s reputation comes from, and if you want the buzz, this is it.
Poniente, to the west, is the calmer twin: wider, longer and noticeably quieter, with a smartly redesigned promenade and gentler water that suits an early swim or a family day. If your idea of a beach holiday involves actually relaxing, start here.
Both are genuinely free. The only money changes hands when you hire a sunbed and parasol — a few euros per item per day — or buy a drink from the chiringuitos behind. You can just as easily lay a towel down for nothing.
Timing and a few honest notes
The single best move in summer is to go early. Get down before about 11am in July and August and you’ll find space, cool sand and water that hasn’t yet filled with crowds; leave it until midday and Levante in particular becomes shoulder-to-shoulder. The other good window is after about 6pm, when the heat drops and the strip comes alive.
Keep expectations realistic: this is a mass-market resort beach, not a hidden cove, and in peak season it’s packed and loud. But the sand really is clean, the swimming is safe and lifeguarded in season, and for a free attraction it earns its place. Pair a calm Poniente morning with a lively Levante evening and you’ve got the best of both without spending a penny on the beach itself.
Planning the rest of your trip? See the Benidorm city guide.
