A friend and I will be in Granada. We will have a car and would love to see the coast. While we don't want to take too much time away from Granada, we would love to spend a day in a beautiful city with a leisurely lunch, people watching and breathing in sea air. Can anyone recommend a town along the coast that would be an easy trip from Granada that would be a good fit? Thanks!

Malaga is the most interesting, you can walk around the Alcazaba and have lunch at the beach. Nerja has a nice view of the Med., maybe a half hr. closer to Granada but I'd go to Malaga.

The easiest place to get to is Motril, but having unfortunately stayed there I would not recommend it.

The new motorway takes you down to the coast in half an hour and goes through the beautiful Lecrin Valley. At one point you can see an old Roman bridge underneath an Iron bridge underneath the new modern cement bridge, layers of history. As you near the coast you can see an abundance of tropical plants for which this part of the coast is named a Costa tropical. Take a right when you reach the coast and instead of Motril you will get to Salobreña, you will see it from a distance, white houses clinging to a protruding rock. The beach has great chirringitos, or beach restaurants and the town has a lovely Arabic fortress.It is a common destination for Granadinos like me taking a day trip to the beach.

I strongly recommend you to go down the spectacular A-4050 road known as the Moor's Sigh. The name comes from the legenedary sigh of Boabdil, the last emir of Granada, when he at the mountain pass known as Puerto del Suspiro del Moro, for a last time had a look back upon the now lost city (1492). His mother shall then have said: "You cry like a woman over a city you couldn't defend as a man". This might be exactly what you are looking for:
http://www.holavalencia.net/2010/02/...and-almunecar/

Almuñecar and Nerja are nice and relatively small towns close to where you reach the coast. The motorway from Granada to Nerja is little more than one hour. Almuñecar is 10 mins less. Calculate some more time on your way down if going along the Moor's sigh route.
http://www.travelmath.com/drive-time...o/Nerja,+Spain

Several great beach restaurants in Nerja. Ayo's is one of the most famous along the entire coast. He has made his popular paella every day for some forty years:
http://www.ayonerja.com/ayo.en.htm

You'll also find a much smaller and intimate beach restaurant on the tiny Calahonda beach, just east of the central Balcón de Europa.
http://www.nerjatoday.com/nerjabeachguide/calahonda/

Several authentic Spanish places some 2-300 meters away from the seafront. Extremely popular La Marina is as good as you get a seafood freiduría in all of Andalucía. I can also warmly recommend La Puntilla in the midst of the narrow streets in the beautiful old town.
La Marina: http://www.guideofnerja.com/pages/gu.../marina_en.htm
La Puntilla: http://www.nerjatoday.com/barsandres...s/la-puntilla/

Top tapas grilled on the spot (conchas finas, mussels, clams, prawns, monkfish, whitebait, baby-squid, sausages, pinchos morunos, mini-burgers etc.) and great atmosphere at El Pulguilla in C/Cristo, just off Balcón de Europa. Free tapas to choose with every drink in the bar area (as in almost all tapas bars/restaurants in Nerja).
http://www.nerjatoday.com/barsandres.../el-pulguilla/

Take the road to Motril. The city is a bit inland, the coast is occupied by the harbour. But on the very coast, a couple miles from Motril, you'll find Salobreña, the spot you are looking for. A nice white-town old quarters, topped by a castle, all on a cape overlooking the Mediterranean. Eat fish anyplace by the seaside, in these towns the catch is always fresh. There is a hotel past the place towards Malaga, with great views.
All these towns in the eastern coast have been spoiled by heavy construction, but not as much as the western part (Costa del Sol).