The Best Beach
Clubs on the Costa Brava

The Costa Brava is the rugged northern stretch of the Catalan coast, where the Pyrenees tumble into the Mediterranean in a series of pine clad coves, fishing villages and small crescents of sand. It was never built for the beach club arms race of Marbella or Ibiza, and that is its quiet glory. The pleasure here is a sheltered cala reached down a wooded path, a long lunch of just landed seafood, and a coastal trail between the coves. There are a couple of genuinely good beach clubs, and they earn their place as much for the kitchen as the daybeds.

We keep prices and any minimum spend as to be confirmed, because they move with the season and the venue and we would rather you heard them first hand. Send your date and party size and the venue will confirm what a bed or a table costs and what it includes. Every place below is a real, established venue, described by the kind of day it gives you and the dish you should order while the sea does its work.

The Costa Brava season runs from roughly April to October, and the clubs are at their best in June and September when the sea is warm but the August crowds have thinned. July and August are the busiest, when the coves fill and a reservation at the better clubs is wise. Lunch is the headline meal here rather than a sunset ritual, so plan a late, slow midday table and a swim between courses. The coast can draw a strong tramuntana wind, so a sheltered cove is the smart pick on a blowy day.

Booking on the Costa Brava is gentle compared with the famous Spanish club coasts. At Gammarus a reservation is worth having for a summer lunch and for the prime terrace seats, especially at weekends, while quieter days you can often walk in. At the dressier hotel club, confirm access and any minimum spend ahead, particularly if you are not a guest. Always ask what a table or a bed includes, as the cove clubs lean more on dining than on bottle service.

The honest move here is to let the seafood lead and the cove do the rest. Choose your club for the kitchen, take the long lunch over a quick dip and dash, and order the catch of the day or the local prawns where the terrace faces the water. Smart but relaxed dress suits the coast, a booking under your name smooths the welcome, and a car helps reach the prettier calas. Send your date and party size through the form below and the venue will confirm availability and any spend for the day you want.

The Costa Brava runs north from Blanes towards the French border, a coast of small coves, pine forests and old fishing towns like Calella de Palafrugell and Cadaques. Lloret de Mar and Platja d'Aro are the livelier resort hubs, while the calas between them are the real prize, many reached on foot along the coastal cami de ronda path. A car opens up the best of the hidden coves, as the most beautiful are not on a bus route.

Conditions are typical rather than guaranteed, and the tramuntana wind and rocky entries are part of the coast, so we make no swimming safety promise and you should read the flags and local advice on the day. Many coves have little shade, so bring your own, and reef shoes help on the pebbly entries. A little cash is handy at the smaller cove kiosks, and reservations are wise at the better restaurants in peak summer.