Levante Beach area, Benidorm

The Levante beach area is the hard-partying heart of Benidorm, combining the daytime appeal of one of Spain's most popular beaches with Europe's greatest concentration of night-time entertainment and clubbing venues. Set on the east side of Benidorm's Old Town, Levante beach and the district that takes its name run for two kilometres to the headland of the Benidorm bay near Rincon de Loix. Levante beach is known locally as sunrise beach - perhaps in part because so many visitors to the area are still partying when the sun comes up.

The Levante area has an upbeat holiday feeling all year round. It is especially busy in the summer months, when the high-rise resort hotels and apartment buildings of the area disgorge thousands of people onto the beach every morning. Fortunately Levante beach is large and has plenty of sunbeds - more than 5000 - but in high season it can still get quite crowded. The beach is sandy, with a gentle slope that makes it relatively safe for children and inexperienced swimmers. A flotilla of rafts, rope bridges, slides and diving board is moored further off-shore, creating a lively water playground for those who want to venture into deeper water. Life-guards patrol the beach during the summer months, and the city operates a "biblioplaya" - or beach library - where visitors can borrow the latest daily papers from all over the world. The beach is backed by a wide promenade lined with bars, cafes and fast-food stands. Facilities for water activities such windsurfing, para-sailing, jet-skiing, scuba diving and boat rides are found at several sites along the beach.

Levante is sometimes known as the "New Town" because it is the most recent part of Benidorm to be built. In the high season between June and August the hotels fill with tourists on package-holidays, and in the off-season the Levante is popular with retired people with time for long-stay winter holidays in the Spanish sunshine. Most hotels around Levante are in the mid-range, and there are a handful of luxury resort hotels that add some glamour. After dark the hotels and bars of the Levante area come alive with entertainments: discos and nightclubs, karaoke and bingo, cabarets and comedy shows, and live music from tribute acts. Most venues charge no admission, and keep the price of drinks low to encourage customers.

Almost all restaurants - and other businesses - in the Levante area are geared towards foreign tourists, and many pubs and bars in the Levante area have British owners. There is a wide variety of food available, from English pub-grub to international cuisine in chic modern restaurants. The most expensive cafés and restaurants are found along the promenade beside the waterfront, but the competition for customers is so high that meal prices are generally very low.

The Levante area is also close to two popular theme parks sited together at the edge of the city near Rincon de Loix, just a few minutes from the beach front. Mundomar is a large landscaped animal park and aquarium with specialised habitats for dolphins and sealions, as well as seals, otters, penguins, turtles, monkeys, flamingos and other tropical birds. The neighbouring Aqualandia park is a large water park complex with more than 20 swimming pools and water-slides.