San Antonio Balneario La Encarnación Snack bar and Restaurant
A historic bathing platform jutting out over the Mar Menor
A superb place for an authentic paella, cocktail, ice cream, coffee or well priced lunchtime menu.
Address details: Balneario La Encarnación Paseo Manzanares Los Alcázares
Telephone: 650 40 89 95 Google Map: View Map
The Balneario belonging to the Hotel la Encarnación offers one of the most interesting dining and refreshments options in the Mar Menor, being the last remaining Balneario of its kind.
A Balneario is a bathing hut, built out on stilts over the warm waters of the Mar Menor at Los Alcázares, built at the same time as the Hotel itself in 1904.
At this point in time the Mar Menor was just starting to open up for tourism, attracting the affluent middle classes who came to the area in search of healthy holidays.
The Mar Menor has been famous for its healthy climate and mineral laden waters for more than 2000 years, recorded as being a place of relaxation for not only the Romans, but also the Arabs who subsequently occupied the area, and enjoyed a period of expansion at the turn of the last century.
The Hotel itself, just 50 metres up the road, was the first hotel in the Mar Menor, and was even visited by the King of Spain, King Alfonso XIII in 1924.
This Balneario afforded bathers some degree of privacy, and they would undress in private cubicles, putting on enveloping bathing costumes, before descending down ladders directly into the water.
Today, diners can still see the original structures used by the bathers over 100 years ago.
The Balneario today is a really special place to enjoy the essence of the Mar Menor, open for snacks, drinks and tapas throughout the day, as well as offering both a lunchtime Menu del día and Menu de Noche in the evening.
The standard menu includes both hot and cold Spanish favourites, with a strong accent on Spanish fish dishes, but also has a selection of both German favourites and British dishes, such as Pie and chips.
The lunchtime menu is a reasonable 12 euros, with salad, starter, main dish , dessert and bread and butter 
( drinks excluded.) and in the evening there is an extremely good value evening menu for only 6.95 euros, which offers outstanding value for money.
But what really sets this restaurant apart from any other in the Mar Menor is the location.
Diners are eating out above the water, accompanied by the sound of lapping waves, and with warm summer breezes taking away the baking heat of summer.
The tables are shaded and the seats comfortable, an experience of almost Riviera-like comfort with an indulgent feeling of being on holiday a very real part of a meal or drink taken in this location.
Parking.
The Balneario and Hotel la Encarnación are surrounded by residential streets, so there is a quantity of parking on the streets, although in the summer it does get a bit tight as the beaches are very busy.
Opening Hours: During the winter the Restaurant is open from 10am to 10pm and in the summer from 10am to late, late being any time from midnight to the early hours depending on the volume of clients.
