Benidorm Island rises 73 metres from the Mediterranean, a limestone outcrop three kilometres offshore that served as a pirate lookout in the 16th century and a garrison post during the Spanish Civil War. The island remained uninhabited and militarily restricted until 1952, when local fishermen petitioned for public access. Today it functions as a protected natural space within the Serra Gelada Natural Park, its 6.5-hectare surface threaded with marked trails and anchored by a small restaurant-tavern built in 1967. The boat trip Benidorm island crossing takes twelve to fifteen minutes, departing from Paseo de Colón on the mainland's southern harbour. Glass-hulled catamarans leave every forty minutes during summer peak season, their transparent lower decks revealing grouper, octopus, and schools of bream above the submarine meadows of Posidonia oceanica. The underwater viewing experience runs throughout the crossing, positioned at the bow where the hull's acrylic panels offer unobstructed sight-lines to depths of four to six metres. On arrival, visitors follow a coastal circuit of approximately one kilometre, ascending 34 metres via stone steps and compacted gravel paths. The southern cliff face hosts breeding colonies of Audouin's gulls—listed as near-threatened until 2015—alongside yellow-legged gulls and European shags that nest in the limestone fissures. A summit viewpoint at 73 metres provides unmediated panoramas of Benidorm's twin bays, the Puig Campana massif inland, and the Costa Blanca coastline extending north toward Altea. The island's vegetation comprises wind-sculpted Mediterranean scrub: wild thyme, rosemary, and dwarf fan palms adapted to saline exposure and sparse rainfall averaging 320 millimetres annually. Benidorm island excursions operate year-round, though winter schedules reduce frequency to accommodate shorter daylight and rougher sea conditions. Return crossings depart from the island jetty every forty minutes until 16:00, timed to synchronise with mainland arrivals. The journey remains one of the Costa Blanca's few accessible marine experiences that combines ecological interpretation with minimal infrastructure—no overnight accommodation, no vehicular access, no commercial development beyond the single tavern at the landing cove.