What you can see on the Albir webcam
The camera looks along the bay from its Altea end. In front are the coast road and the promenade, busy with walkers and cyclists; beyond, the shingle beach runs away with its parasols and loungers towards the Serra Gelada, whose ridge fills the skyline. It is live video, so you can see the movement of the sea, the people on the promenade and whether cloud is sitting on the mountain.
Albir beach webcam and the Serra Gelada
This live camera looks south-west along Albir beach from a campsite at its Altea end. In the foreground are the coast road, with cyclists and cars, and the campsite's entrance; beyond the flags and palms of the promenade, the shingle beach runs away with its parasols and loungers towards the Serra Gelada, whose ridge fills the right-hand side of the picture, with a mast on its summit.
It is the camera to check before a walk to the Albir lighthouse: you can see whether cloud is sitting on the Serra Gelada, how calm the bay is and how busy the promenade has become. In the morning, the brightest part of the sky is over the sea on the left.
The lighthouse walk and the Serra Gelada
Albir's best-known outing starts at the end of its promenade. A paved track of roughly 2.5 km (1½ miles) climbs gently through the Serra Gelada natural park, past the remains of an old red-ochre mine above a cove, to the Albir lighthouse on its headland, with Altea, the Penyal d'Ifac and the open sea below. The lighthouse now holds a small interpretation centre about the keepers' life and the park's wildlife. The walk is shadeless, so in summer it is best done early.
When to watch Albir
Albir is one hour ahead of the UK, so a morning look before breakfast at home shows the beach mid-morning. The bay faces the sea to the east and south, with the Serra Gelada shielding it from the south-west, and the water here is usually calm and very clear. In winter, the promenade is at its liveliest on sunny days, when the long-stay visitors are out walking.
Around Albir
The promenade is lined with stars bearing the names of guests of the town's long-running film festival. Close by are the remains of a Roman villa, now an open-air museum, and the Norwegian Seamen's Church, a sign of how large the Scandinavian community here has grown. Altea is a short walk or ride north along the coast; Benidorm is on the far side of the Serra Gelada.
Visiting Albir
The beach is made of smooth pebbles, so sea shoes are worth packing. The TRAM coastal line stops at L'Albir, on the inland side of the town, with connections to Benidorm and Alicante.
