Bitez

The beach in the inland village of Bitez is the longest on the peninsula. The stone houses in the village were built right on the road to make room for mandarin trees in the backyard. Until several decades ago, residents picked and packed the mandarins onto camels, which then carried them to the nearby ports. Walk along the back roads of Bitez to take in the fresh, citric scent of the mandarins, intermingled with 500-year-old olive trees. The real draw of Bitez, though, is the beach, where most of the sand in this semicircle cove is covered by chaises or plush pillows set up in little enclaves. A pedestrian walkway leads through the 2-km (1-mile) stretch of beach, dividing the cafés and hotels from the shore. There's a small windsurfing school at the western end of the cove, next to the Sarn?ç Beach Club.