Mijas has seven beaches, and almost every guide lists them the same way: name, length, bullet points, next. The trouble is that none of that actually decides anything. If you are working out where to spend the day, what you need to know is which of the seven suits you this Saturday, with the plan you have and the people you are bringing.

So this is what we would tell a friend who rings us from the car, still undecided. The figures are the official ones. The order we put them in comes from living here all year.

The seven Mijas beaches at a glance

West to east, which is the order you meet them in if you are driving down from Marbella:

Beach	Length	Sand	What it is good for
Calahonda	700 m	Fine golden, with patches of shingle	A full serviced day: sunbeds, beach bars, lifeguards, boardwalks
Los Tajos	400 m	Fine dark sand mixed with shingle	Getting away from the crowd without leaving La Cala
El Bombo	750 m (37 m average width)	Fine	Blue Flag, easy access, the easiest beach to reach without a car
La Cala – La Butibamba	1,258 m	Fine dark golden	Families: playground, amphibious chair, 450 sunbeds, 6 beach bars
El Faro de Calaburras	870 m	Fine, with shingle	Plenty of space with the basics covered
El Charcón – Playa Marina	940 m	Dark sand and shingle	Naturist beach, no facilities, difficult footpath access
El Chaparral	850 m	Fine with rocky patches	Real quiet, as long as you carry the whole day down with you

Check the wind before you pick a beach

This is the advice no travel site gives you, and the one that rescues most days on this coast: the wind matters more than the temperature. With levante, the easterly, the sea gets choppy, the shallows go cloudy and the beach loses half its appeal no matter what your phone says the forecast is. With poniente, the westerly, the water stays clear and the same spot looks like a different place.

That changes which beach you choose, not just your mood. The Mijas beaches with shingle mixed into the sand (Calahonda, Los Tajos, El Faro, El Charcón) are the ones that suffer most on a rough day: the water takes longer to settle and the water's edge turns uncomfortable underfoot. If an easterly is forecast, head for the fine-sand beaches with facilities, where at least the shade and the beach bar work the same. Two minutes checking saves a mediocre morning.

Which beach, depending on who is with you

With small children: La Butibamba or El Bombo

La Butibamba is La Cala de Mijas's own beach and the best equipped in the municipality: 1,258 metres, 450 sunbeds, parasols, six beach bars, boat hire, showers, toilets, boardwalks, lifeguards, a children's playground, parking, and bars and restaurants right off the sand. It also has an amphibious chair. With children that adds up to one very practical thing: you can deal with hunger, the loo, shade and boredom without moving camp. It is also the beach we know best: Pauza is a minute away from it.

El Bombo is the alternative if you want something shorter but just as sorted: 750 metres, Blue Flag, four beach bars, 380 sunbeds, a lifeguard post, toilets, showers, boardwalks, bins and wheelchair access. The figure that really counts with children, though, is a different one: an average width of 37 metres. That is genuine space between your towel and the water, which is exactly what you want when you are keeping an eye on someone who sprints towards the sea.

Without a car: El Bombo, no contest

It is the only one of the seven whose access is described as easy on foot, by car or by bus, and it has its own car park if you end up driving anyway. La Butibamba also works on foot if you are staying in La Cala. For the rest, bring the car: El Faro is reached from the N-340 and has limited parking, Los Tajos is reached down from La Cala and also has limited parking, and El Charcón is down a difficult footpath.

If you want to actually swim, without standing on shingle

Of the seven, only El Bombo and La Butibamba are described as fine sand with no mention of shingle or rocky patches. The others all have stone in them: Calahonda has shingle areas, Los Tajos mixes it into dark sand, El Faro has it throughout, El Chaparral has rocky patches, and El Charcón is dark sand and shingle outright. It is not a disaster, but it is the difference between walking in barefoot and keeping a pair of water shoes in the bag. If swimming is the point of the day, pack them.

If the goal is having the place to yourself

There is one indicator that beats any review: sunbeds per metre of beach. El Faro de Calaburras has 870 metres and only 86 sunbeds and a single beach bar, which means a long beach that is barely occupied, with showers, toilets, boardwalks, daily cleaning and lifeguards. For our money it is the best balance in Mijas between space and services. The catch is parking, which is limited, so go early or go midweek.

Los Tajos plays a different game: 400 metres at the foot of the cliffs, reached down from La Cala. Being small makes it feel private, but it also means it fills up sooner than you would expect. It has sunbeds, showers, daily cleaning and a beach bar or two in season.

The two beaches with no facilities, told straight

El Chaparral and El Charcón are the two Mijas beaches with no beach bars and no sunbeds. Worth saying plainly, because that is exactly the detail most listings bury in a bullet point.

El Chaparral is 850 metres of fine sand with rocky patches, with toilets, showers, bins and daily cleaning, but the access on foot is classed as difficult. And there is a contradiction here worth flagging rather than smoothing over: it is listed as having a partially accessible bathing area and, at the same time, difficult access on foot. If you are coming with someone with reduced mobility, confirm it before you head down. It is not a place to improvise.

El Charcón, also called Playa Marina, is a naturist beach. It is 940 metres of dark sand and shingle with showers, bins and naturist facilities, no beach bars or sunbeds, reached by a difficult footpath, with limited parking. We say it bluntly for a practical reason: it is the sort of thing you want to know before you park and carry the cool box and the children down. People who are looking for it are looking for it on purpose. Everyone else has six alternatives within a few minutes.

On both, the rule is the same: take water, take shade, take everything you plan to need, because there is nothing at the top to bail you out.

Accessibility: what is on record

Three beaches list some form of adaptation. El Bombo has wheelchair access, La Butibamba has an amphibious chair (the kind that lets you get into the water with help) and Calahonda is described as partially wheelchair accessible, with boardwalks, a first aid point and lifeguards. If accessibility is what decides your day, the strongest combination is El Bombo for getting there and La Butibamba for getting in the water.

The Senda Litoral: six kilometres that can beat the beach

If the day turns windy and the sand loses its appeal, the alternative starts where the beach ends. The Mijas stretch of the Senda Litoral coastal path runs 6,000 metres, takes an hour and a half, is graded easy and is classed as a Blue Path. It is open to walkers and cyclists, runs between Playa de La Luna and the centre of La Cala de Mijas, crosses Mediterranean dunes and passes the old watchtowers.

It is also a spot for birdwatching and for whale and dolphin watching, so if you own binoculars, bring them. Ninety minutes at an easy pace, finishing in La Cala, is probably the best possible use of an easterly morning.

Where the day ends

If you are only doing one beach in Mijas: La Butibamba with family, El Bombo without a car, El Faro if you want space. All three share the same advantage, which is finishing in La Cala de Mijas, where the sand and the tables are a short stroll apart.

We are on that same stroll: Pauza is Argentinian fire cooking in La Cala de Mijas, which is roughly what a full day in the sun asks for.

Mijas beaches: how to choose the right one for your day