Before you pay for "sea views," learn to spot the listing tricks that rob you of value. An uncomfortable guide for savvy buyers in Moraira and the Costa Blanca who are no longer hypnotized by a blue triangle in the corner of a photo.
You land on a Saturday, 32 degrees, a Levante breeze. The ad promised "panoramic Moraira sea views, 10 minutes from El Portet." Photo 1: a terrace, white railing, a deep blue line in the background. Photo 2: a bright living room, the sea "flows" through the window. You arrive... and the sea is a turquoise thread between two pines and a building across the street. To see it, you have to literally lean out.
The agent smiles and says the classic line: "It looks better in person." No. In person, you see the truth: the camera was tilted and using a telephoto lens. The postcard wasn't your future. It was a trick.
"If you have to turn your head to see the sea, it’s not a view. It's a reminder of what you don't have."
Tilting the camera up or cropping the ground to include more sky and sea works magic... on the screen. In real life, your horizon doesn't change. The tilt sells you a percentage of blue that doesn't exist at your eye level (1.20–1.60 m). It's like standing on a virtual chair that disappears when you sign.
All of this inflates your expectations and, worse, the price. Because "with views" on the Costa Blanca isn't a romantic label: it's a value multiplier per square meter. And you're paying that multiplier for air.
Translation to euros in Moraira, Benissa Costa, or Cap Blanc: an apartment with a frontal, unobstructed sea view can add 10–25% to the price compared to a similar one without views. If what you have is a "crick-in-the-neck" view, that premium isn't justified. And yes, it is negotiable.
Marieke, 48, from the Netherlands, is looking for a second home. May 2025. She sees a villa in Benissa Costa, a perfect description: "180º sea view, 7 min from Cala Baladrar." She flies over. The reality: telephoto lens + photo from the rooftop stairs. In the living room, barely a sliver of blue. They ask for €895,000 "for the view."
She gets angry (rightfully so), but she learns. Second round, with a checklist. She asks for an eye-level video, arranges visits at different times, checks altimetry on Geoportal and Google Earth, and asks about building permits from urban planning (there's a house project on the plot below). Result: she discards that house, finds another in Moraira, El Portet area, with 30% of the visible horizon from the main terrace, south-east orientation, and no possibility of construction in front of it according to the town plan. Price: €835,000. She saves €60,000 and, most importantly, buys the peace of mind of looking at the sea without turning her neck.
What if the problem isn't a lack of options, but your tolerance for vague descriptions? What if "sea views" isn't an emotion, but a verifiable fact? In 2025, with 3D maps, street view, drones, and geolocation, falling for the tilted photo trick is voluntary.
New mindset: you don't buy walls, you buy a useful horizon. Your criterion isn't "I like it," it's "how much sea do I see, from where, at what times, and for how many years?"
"You won't have 200 more options... you'll have 5 that are gold. And choosing becomes easy."
In micro-zones like El Portet, Cap Blanc, Pla del Mar, San Jaime, or Raco de Galeno (Benissa), the altimetry and sloping streets mean a house 300 meters from the sea can have a better view than one at 120 meters. It's not about distance: it's about height, orientation, and building lines. In strong market years like 2025, ads inflate adjectives; your defense is to measure.
Mistakes we see every week when buying in Moraira: believing "one more floor" fixes views (sometimes you hit maximum height and can't go up), trusting a drone without a plan, not asking about permits for the plot below, visiting at the wrong time, or accepting "it looks better in the summer" when the trees actually block the view in the summer. You won't fall for that anymore.
If you felt that pang of "oh man, that's me," good. It's okay to have been hopeful. But it's not okay to keep paying for views that don't exist. Buy with a method. Buy with someone who knows every curve of Moraira, Benissa, Calpe, and Jávea, who calls urban planning, who measures, who talks to you straight.
At Cuñat Weber, we've been helping international buyers separate postcards from property since 1989. We show you the sea that's there, not the one you'd like. Multilingual in Spanish, English, and Dutch. Office at Avinguda del Portet, 42 (Moraira). Hours: Monday to Friday, 09:00–14:00; afternoons by appointment.
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Contact: sales@immomoraira.com | +34 965 744 166 | +34 623 016 968 | immomoraira.com
Your money isn't for paying for adjectives. It's for paying for views you can enjoy every day. Ready to look at the Mediterranean without a neck strain?
