The town of Motril is located in the Spanish region of Andalucia on the Costa Tropical. This is the biggest town on the Costa with a thriving commercial, fishing and leisure port. Situated an hour and a half's drive east of Malaga International Airport and within easy reach of the magnificent Sierra Nevada mountain range, Motril is an ideal base for exploring the many delights of the Andalucian coastline and hinterland. You'll find Motril midway between the resorts of Malaga to the west and Almeria to the east. Nestling at the foothills of the Sierra Lujar mountains, Motril lies at the heart of the Costa Tropical which is one of the most lush and productive agricultural areas of Spain. The Costa takes its name from the sub-tropical climate which enables the cultivation of exotic fruits and crops such as sugar cane, oranges, lemons, custard apples, avocadoes, mangoes and bananas. With warm winters and long hot summers giving an average year round temperature of 20C, this area is a magnet for Spanish and foreign visitors alike. Motril is the Costa's main shopping centre with a hypermarket on the outskirts of the town and many supermarkets, bars, restaurants and nightclubs in and around the town centre. The marina provides a wealth of water sports and boat excursions including trips over to Morocco. The town's coastal strip includes two main beaches - the busiest being Playa Poniente, which is well served with tourist facilities, and the quieter Playa Granada. There are also many sheltered coves, rocky inlets and impressive cliff faces along this stretch of coastline making it popular with divers, snorkellers and sailors. For golfers there's the nine-hole Los Moriscos course eight kilometres west of the town, set amid the exotic fruit plantations and well equipped with a putting green, driving range and good leisure facilities. Other sports available in the area include rock climbing, whitewater rafting, fly surfing and mountain biking. The town is ideally placed for exploring the historic city of Granada (just 40 minutes drive away) with its Generalife Gardens and fabulous Alhambra Palace. The Sierra Nevada mountain range, at 3,000 metres, is a paradise for ski-ing, snowboarding and mountaineering and is near enough for you to be ski-ing in the morning and sunbathing back at the beaches in Motril in the afternoon. Motril is only a short drive to the fringes of the Alpujarras, one of Spain's most spectacular regions where ancient villages cling to mountainsides on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. You'd be hard pushed to find a more fascinating day excursion than a trip into the Alpujarras, made famous by former Genesis guitarist Chris Stewart who chronicled his escape from the rat race here in his best-selling "Driving Over Lemons".