Ask ten people which Costa Blanca town is best and you will get ten confident, contradictory answers. The truth is that Jávea, Moraira and Altea each attract a different kind of resident, and choosing well matters more than choosing "the best". Here is our honest take after years of housing expats in all three.
Jávea: the complete package
Jávea (Xàbia in Valencian) is the biggest of the three and the most self-sufficient. It really is three towns in one: the historic old town inland, the working port, and the Arenal beach zone with its restaurant-lined promenade. You get a large international community, good schools including an international school, a proper choice of supermarkets, and enough going on in January that the town never feels shut.
The honest downsides: summer traffic around the Arenal is real, and the most desirable areas (Montgó slopes, Balcón al Mar, walking distance to the Arenal) command the highest long-term rents of the three.
Choose Jávea if you want year-round life, families and services without needing a city.
Moraira: small, polished, quietly expensive
Moraira is the boutique option. A former fishing village wrapped around a yacht marina, it has stayed low-rise and immaculate: no big hotels, no high season chaos on the scale of its neighbours. The El Portet cove is one of the prettiest swimming spots on the whole coast. The community skews a little older and quieter, with a strong British, Dutch, German and Belgian presence.
Be honest with yourself about scale: Moraira is small. Winter evenings are calm, nightlife is a handful of good restaurants, and property (rental or purchase) costs a premium for the postcard setting.
Choose Moraira if you value peace, beauty and walkability over buzz.
Altea: the artistic soul
Altea's whitewashed old town, crowned by the blue-domed church, is the most photogenic spot on the Costa Blanca, and the town knows it. There is a fine arts faculty, galleries, a famous artisan market in summer and a Spanish-first atmosphere that the other two cannot match. The seafront promenade has been beautifully renovated, and Altea sits closest to Alicante's airport and to the city services of Benidorm without feeling anything like Benidorm.
Trade-offs: beaches are mostly pebble rather than sand, the old town means stairs and hills every day, and the international community is smaller and more integrated: a plus or a minus depending on what you want.
Choose Altea if you want culture, authenticity and a more Spanish daily life.
The practical comparison
- Long-term rent for a two-bedroom: Jávea and Moraira sit at the top, Altea slightly below
- International community: Jávea largest, Moraira most concentrated, Altea most integrated
- Airport distance: Altea wins at roughly 50 minutes; Jávea and Moraira are about 75–90
- Sandy beaches: Jávea's Arenal wins; Moraira's El Portet is small but stunning
Still undecided?
Rent first, buy later: it is the advice we give everyone. A winter let is the perfect way to test a town for real. Browse our listings in all three and see which one feels like home.