Las Charcas Mud Baths
Las Charcas Mud Baths
4.4
About
Small lakes with very warm water, and deck and step access provided. People bathe in these pools and smear the mud from the bottom over their bodies. The mud is reportedly excellent for damaged skin and for arthritic pain.
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4.4
452 reviews
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NMC
Dublin, Ireland31 contributions
Jul 2023 • Family
Loved this place, can’t believe I had never been until now. Will definitely return.
Bring a bucket or cut the top off a 5 litre bottle of water to gather the mud in. Mud is at the bottom of the lake/sea bed. It’s about 3-4 ft deep. Lather up and dry in the sun, then back into the water to wash off.
It can get everywhere and can stain, so dark swimwear/flip flops recommended.
I would bring swim shoes with me next time as some stones etc on the lake bed.
Bring a bucket or cut the top off a 5 litre bottle of water to gather the mud in. Mud is at the bottom of the lake/sea bed. It’s about 3-4 ft deep. Lather up and dry in the sun, then back into the water to wash off.
It can get everywhere and can stain, so dark swimwear/flip flops recommended.
I would bring swim shoes with me next time as some stones etc on the lake bed.
Written 3 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Barrie M
29 contributions
Jul 2019
I have spent 3 afternoons here over the past2 years with different members of the family they have all enjoyed the fun of getting caked in mud. At at the end of of it silky smooth skin....
Would highly recommend but do not forget to take a bucket to collect the mud.
Would highly recommend but do not forget to take a bucket to collect the mud.
Written 10 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Deb D
Horsham, UK110 contributions
Sept 2021
A fun thing to do, completely free of charge. Go prepared, with a small bucket or cut off bottle to scoop the mud with. We also bought 2 cheap sponges from the supermarket to clean it off with, afterwards.
Cover yourself in mud or couples cover each other (very funny to do). Bake yourself in the sun, you can walk about nearby or stay on the wooden platforms.
When you’re ‘done’, slip into the warm, very shallow salt waters to rinse off.
There are also the usual beach showers the other side of the promenade, but you shouldn’t be swimming in the Sea with the mud on your body (see advisory notice).
Flamingos frequent the salt lagoons too, which is really special.
Plenty of nearby places to eat and drink and a nice beach, too. Well worth a trip.
*Don’t wear anything special. The mud has slightly stained the white part of my cozzie. Your skin will feel super soft afterwards. You’d pay good money to do this anywhere else! Fab day out.
Cover yourself in mud or couples cover each other (very funny to do). Bake yourself in the sun, you can walk about nearby or stay on the wooden platforms.
When you’re ‘done’, slip into the warm, very shallow salt waters to rinse off.
There are also the usual beach showers the other side of the promenade, but you shouldn’t be swimming in the Sea with the mud on your body (see advisory notice).
Flamingos frequent the salt lagoons too, which is really special.
Plenty of nearby places to eat and drink and a nice beach, too. Well worth a trip.
*Don’t wear anything special. The mud has slightly stained the white part of my cozzie. Your skin will feel super soft afterwards. You’d pay good money to do this anywhere else! Fab day out.
Written 4 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Roger S
Gjovik, Norway13 contributions
Jul 2022 • Family
Free of charge. Good space and enough mud for everyone. Smells bad, but they say that the mud is Healthy. You might have to park many 100 meters away from the place. Nice Beach 30 meters from the mud.
Written 25 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1holidayfor4
London, UK4 contributions
Aug 2017 • Family
There are more poetic reviews available but here's the basics in one go. Free✅Fun✅ Very calm shallow water✅ Toilets✅ Lifeguards✅First aid station✅food✅free parking✅worth more than 1 visit✅
Step one, find the windmill, you have arrived. There is a handy spacious drop off point near the windmill for all your gear & prams etc. Park near the water if you're lucky or a few hundred metres up the main road on the side with houses. Walk up the esplanade (the path which has got water on both sides) and you will find the 5 wooden decking areas with steps on your left, and the sea on your right. There is a small beach just past the beach bar on the esplanade, thats where we set up. There is a bigger beach just a few minutes walk away if you need a bit more room. Choose one of the decking areas with steps. I suggest that you use the decking with steps to get in and out of the lake, they take you about 10 metres out and you will avoid the only stones that I came across (when I tried to walk out of the lake straight back to the path), the rest of the lake is stone free. Bring a container, a cut in half water bottle was perfect, collect mud from the bottom of the very shallow lake with your hand. We found the middle of the lake had a thin grittier layer of mud on the bottom (ouch), then closer to shore between the decked areas the mud is ankle deep and silky smooth. Return to the wooden decking area then put your mud on and dry. It is funny. There is a sulphur smell sometimes when you grab a particularly good scoop off the bottom, but its not overwhelming. Plenty of elderly people going in and out using the steps with ease, there are handrails. There was also a seperate ramp for wheelchair users to get down into the lake. The lake was only waist high for an adult even out in the middle. Leave all your clean stuff over the path on the small beach. Drop off your gear, get muddy, get clean, return to beach. You can go back to your spot on the beach to let the mud dry, but wash off the mud in the same pool you got the mud from, once you are mud free cross over the esplanade to the very calm shallow sea for a swim. We took a lilo the 2nd time we went and snorkels and masks. Perfect for floating, there's no waves in this area, and near silence, nice breeze on the calm water, aaand relaaax. Dont worry, you can't float away as there is a rope with floats on it about 100 metres out around this swimming area, lifeguards too and its still only about a metre deep a lo g way out. Ideal spot for people with small children. The beach next to the mud bath & esplanade area is small but was not packed. The sand was hard in this smaller area, difficult to screw in the parasol, but possible. Very easy for prams and wheelchairs to get right down to the water. A few people were sitting in the calm water on deckchairs, great idea. Access ramps there as well to get you down from esplanade level to sand level (about 1 metre max). Beach bar does food and drinks, lots of tapas being eaten. There are portaloos (all appeared to be wheelchair accessible) dotted along beach and along esplanade. There are pedalos, canoes, jet skis etc for hire which all have their own roped off access into and from the sea seperated from swimmers. Ican honestly say I hardly noticed them at all on 2 visits. Also along the beach an inflatable playground obstacle course.
We came 2 days running from Torrevieja area 30 minutes away. We used the toll road (AP-7) first day at €3.70 each way, but used the toll free smaller N332 the next day, (sat nav "avoid the tolls" route did take us onto the AP-7 for 2.3 miles but don't panic, you've missed the tolls and you're nearly there. Hope it helps someone decide to go. Enjoy.
Step one, find the windmill, you have arrived. There is a handy spacious drop off point near the windmill for all your gear & prams etc. Park near the water if you're lucky or a few hundred metres up the main road on the side with houses. Walk up the esplanade (the path which has got water on both sides) and you will find the 5 wooden decking areas with steps on your left, and the sea on your right. There is a small beach just past the beach bar on the esplanade, thats where we set up. There is a bigger beach just a few minutes walk away if you need a bit more room. Choose one of the decking areas with steps. I suggest that you use the decking with steps to get in and out of the lake, they take you about 10 metres out and you will avoid the only stones that I came across (when I tried to walk out of the lake straight back to the path), the rest of the lake is stone free. Bring a container, a cut in half water bottle was perfect, collect mud from the bottom of the very shallow lake with your hand. We found the middle of the lake had a thin grittier layer of mud on the bottom (ouch), then closer to shore between the decked areas the mud is ankle deep and silky smooth. Return to the wooden decking area then put your mud on and dry. It is funny. There is a sulphur smell sometimes when you grab a particularly good scoop off the bottom, but its not overwhelming. Plenty of elderly people going in and out using the steps with ease, there are handrails. There was also a seperate ramp for wheelchair users to get down into the lake. The lake was only waist high for an adult even out in the middle. Leave all your clean stuff over the path on the small beach. Drop off your gear, get muddy, get clean, return to beach. You can go back to your spot on the beach to let the mud dry, but wash off the mud in the same pool you got the mud from, once you are mud free cross over the esplanade to the very calm shallow sea for a swim. We took a lilo the 2nd time we went and snorkels and masks. Perfect for floating, there's no waves in this area, and near silence, nice breeze on the calm water, aaand relaaax. Dont worry, you can't float away as there is a rope with floats on it about 100 metres out around this swimming area, lifeguards too and its still only about a metre deep a lo g way out. Ideal spot for people with small children. The beach next to the mud bath & esplanade area is small but was not packed. The sand was hard in this smaller area, difficult to screw in the parasol, but possible. Very easy for prams and wheelchairs to get right down to the water. A few people were sitting in the calm water on deckchairs, great idea. Access ramps there as well to get you down from esplanade level to sand level (about 1 metre max). Beach bar does food and drinks, lots of tapas being eaten. There are portaloos (all appeared to be wheelchair accessible) dotted along beach and along esplanade. There are pedalos, canoes, jet skis etc for hire which all have their own roped off access into and from the sea seperated from swimmers. Ican honestly say I hardly noticed them at all on 2 visits. Also along the beach an inflatable playground obstacle course.
We came 2 days running from Torrevieja area 30 minutes away. We used the toll road (AP-7) first day at €3.70 each way, but used the toll free smaller N332 the next day, (sat nav "avoid the tolls" route did take us onto the AP-7 for 2.3 miles but don't panic, you've missed the tolls and you're nearly there. Hope it helps someone decide to go. Enjoy.
Written 19 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
islandgirlcityboy
London, UK259 contributions
Jun 2018 • Couples
Great fun to trot down to the 'mud' and have a full body treatment applied by your friends and/or family, a bit of fun for everyone. Wade out, dig deep and find the silkiest mud; cover from head to toe and take a stroll down the walkway until fully baked. Don't forget, rinse off in the mud water NOT the Mar Menor! It pongs a bit but then all medicine has its drawbacks. Supposed to have multiple healing properties.
Written 11 June 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Debsie15
Cambridge, UK14 contributions
Aug 2015 • Family
We visit this area regularly and this had been on the to-do list for a while. We read all the previous very helpful reviews (thanks guys) about parking and taking cutoff water bottles and sacrificial bikinis and towels and feeling prepared we set off.
Finding the mud pool was easy as long as you head for the derelict windmill. Follow signs for Calle de Campamour in San Pedro Del Pinatar. We drove past and then parked. We did have to walk about half a mile because we were not lucky with parking spaces.
Once you are on foot at the windmill, head up the land spit (out towards the sea) and there are several pontoons on the left hand side that you can use to get into the mud. We chose an empty one and just walked down the steps. The pool is large and goes from knee deep to around butt deep in the middle. Jelly sandals might be helpful but only parts of the pool floor are hot. Most of it you can stand in barefoot. The Spanish people we saw were barefoot.
The mud from by the steps is not the stuff you want, it's too grainy unless you want to exfoliate too :) Head out the to middle to fetch the smooth stuff. You'll know you have the right mud because it will feel like smooth therapeutic (but stinky) mud. Collect it in whatever you brought and take it back to the pontoon to liberally paste on yourself. Ours took about 30 mins to dry fully. YMMV.
It's a bizarre thing though, once you are plastered in mud newcomers to the pontoon will invariably laugh at you and then proceed to cover themselves in mud too.
The kids decided they would skip the mud treatment but had fun paddling in the sea and laughing at us.
Once dried we washed off in the sea on other side of the land spit.
I then wanted to sit in the salty stream I'd read about on other reviews. You get to it further up the spit in the bank separating the mud pool from the rest of Mar Minor. The giveaway is that it's a pink stream. Beware of going in with sores or wounds. It will sting a bit. Also, going in the salty stream with mud still on you is frowned upon, wash off fully first.
We left the streams feeling salty-sticky but like we'd grabbed a stinky bargain treatment.
We concluded with a nice drink at the bar back near to the Windmill. All in all it was a great experience. We had a laugh and it was a lot of fun for no cost. I can't say that it was health changing but my skin did feel smoother afterwards.
Finding the mud pool was easy as long as you head for the derelict windmill. Follow signs for Calle de Campamour in San Pedro Del Pinatar. We drove past and then parked. We did have to walk about half a mile because we were not lucky with parking spaces.
Once you are on foot at the windmill, head up the land spit (out towards the sea) and there are several pontoons on the left hand side that you can use to get into the mud. We chose an empty one and just walked down the steps. The pool is large and goes from knee deep to around butt deep in the middle. Jelly sandals might be helpful but only parts of the pool floor are hot. Most of it you can stand in barefoot. The Spanish people we saw were barefoot.
The mud from by the steps is not the stuff you want, it's too grainy unless you want to exfoliate too :) Head out the to middle to fetch the smooth stuff. You'll know you have the right mud because it will feel like smooth therapeutic (but stinky) mud. Collect it in whatever you brought and take it back to the pontoon to liberally paste on yourself. Ours took about 30 mins to dry fully. YMMV.
It's a bizarre thing though, once you are plastered in mud newcomers to the pontoon will invariably laugh at you and then proceed to cover themselves in mud too.
The kids decided they would skip the mud treatment but had fun paddling in the sea and laughing at us.
Once dried we washed off in the sea on other side of the land spit.
I then wanted to sit in the salty stream I'd read about on other reviews. You get to it further up the spit in the bank separating the mud pool from the rest of Mar Minor. The giveaway is that it's a pink stream. Beware of going in with sores or wounds. It will sting a bit. Also, going in the salty stream with mud still on you is frowned upon, wash off fully first.
We left the streams feeling salty-sticky but like we'd grabbed a stinky bargain treatment.
We concluded with a nice drink at the bar back near to the Windmill. All in all it was a great experience. We had a laugh and it was a lot of fun for no cost. I can't say that it was health changing but my skin did feel smoother afterwards.
Written 21 August 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
simonbaldwin
Bromsgrove, UK174 contributions
Sept 2014 • Friends
We saw the locals & some tourist immerse themselves in the saline water and them rub the mud all over them so we'd thought we try it too. Warm water, but beware the 1st scoop of mud smells strong of sulphur. The mud is supposed to be good for you too. Worth doing as it's a little different
Written 8 April 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jignakp
London, UK41 contributions
Aug 2017 • Family
If you want a mud bath for FREE (open to all), then this is the place to go. It is not too crowded and you can enjoy lathering yourself in the mud at leisure.
Be sure to take towels, beach slippers and bottles of tap water to rinse your feet with. We went in August, and found free local parking.
Downside: no changing facilities, so you have to use the only toilet on site (need toilet tissue), which is smelly, has no rails for clothes and can get a small queue outside. Best to dress scantily, and easy to remove clothing. All applies unless you stay very locally.
The mud bathing is adjacent to a beach, so it is a family-friendly area. There are local restaurants and shops too.
Be sure to take towels, beach slippers and bottles of tap water to rinse your feet with. We went in August, and found free local parking.
Downside: no changing facilities, so you have to use the only toilet on site (need toilet tissue), which is smelly, has no rails for clothes and can get a small queue outside. Best to dress scantily, and easy to remove clothing. All applies unless you stay very locally.
The mud bathing is adjacent to a beach, so it is a family-friendly area. There are local restaurants and shops too.
Written 10 February 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
robert
Gdynia, Poland736 contributions
Jun 2015 • Couples
Everybody knows Israeli Dead Sea health baths but much less people know there is also such salt lake in Europe.
This European greatest salt water lake is called Mar Menor (Eng. Minor Sea) and is regarded one of greatest natural spa in the world. It is situated at the south-est of the Iberian Peninsula in Murcia region very close to the Mediterranean Sea.
Lo Pagan is the name of touristic and coastal area of the San Pedro del Pinatar where are famous mud baths (Las Charcas) known for their curative-beneficial effects for rheumatical problems as well as arthritis, gout and for rehabilitation after a bone fracture, also recommended for throat illnesses.
Use of this mud is also recommended in many cases of skin disease (abscesses, ulcers, inflammations, sores, and acne).
Where exactly is to find it?
San Pedro del Pinatar, is a nice town close to towns San Javier and Los Alcazares in Spain.
The specific climatic conditions of the Mar Menor, owing to the number of sunlight hours and the high level of salt n the water, have created, in the farth north part of the lake, known as La Puntica, a warm (sometimes very hot) mud known for its therapeutic value because of containing very high percentage of calcium, magnesium, potassium and flouride, as well as chlorine and sulphur.
This European greatest salt water lake is called Mar Menor (Eng. Minor Sea) and is regarded one of greatest natural spa in the world. It is situated at the south-est of the Iberian Peninsula in Murcia region very close to the Mediterranean Sea.
Lo Pagan is the name of touristic and coastal area of the San Pedro del Pinatar where are famous mud baths (Las Charcas) known for their curative-beneficial effects for rheumatical problems as well as arthritis, gout and for rehabilitation after a bone fracture, also recommended for throat illnesses.
Use of this mud is also recommended in many cases of skin disease (abscesses, ulcers, inflammations, sores, and acne).
Where exactly is to find it?
San Pedro del Pinatar, is a nice town close to towns San Javier and Los Alcazares in Spain.
The specific climatic conditions of the Mar Menor, owing to the number of sunlight hours and the high level of salt n the water, have created, in the farth north part of the lake, known as La Puntica, a warm (sometimes very hot) mud known for its therapeutic value because of containing very high percentage of calcium, magnesium, potassium and flouride, as well as chlorine and sulphur.
Written 15 June 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What does it cost to use the baths and are there facilities to clean up afterwords?
Written 20 January 2025
What does it cost to use the baths and are there facilities to clean up afterwords?
Written 20 January 2025
I’m staying in Alicante how far away is this please
Written 27 March 2022
Don't think I would want to get in with a dog
Written 4 January 2020
Buenos dias- Cuanto tiempo dura el baño en barro.
Written 16 April 2019
Lo normal es darte los barros y esperar a que se sequen y luego quitártelos, con eso es suficiente
Written 16 April 2019
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