GRAN CANARIA · CANARY ISLANDS
Golden dunes, an Atlantic full of dolphins, a volcano at the centre.
Catamaran cruises and year-round dolphin trips, camel trains across the Maspalomas dunes, buggies through the barrancos and the road up to Roque Nublo. One island that runs like a miniature continent.
Only here
Three things this island does like nowhere else.
Beaches and boat trips you can find all over the Atlantic. A Saharan dune field at the water’s edge, dolphins resident the whole year, and a sacred volcanic monolith at the island’s roof belong to Gran Canaria alone.
The dunes
The Maspalomas Dunes
Four square miles of Saharan-style sand sit at the island’s southern tip, a protected dune field that drifts on the wind right down to the Atlantic. Walk it at first light, or cross it the old way on a camel train between the palms and the sea, with the Maspalomas lighthouse ahead.
- 1 Maspalomas: Guided Camel Ride in the Maspalomas Sand Dunes
- 2 Gran Canaria: Camel Ride Safari w/ Optional Food & Transport
- 3 Camel Riding in Maspalomas Dunes
The Atlantic out front
Dolphins and Whales, All Year
The deep water off the south coast is one of the few places in Europe with dolphins and pilot whales resident the whole year round. Catamarans and small boats run out from Puerto Rico and Mogán most mornings, so a sighting is closer to a sure thing than a gamble.
- 1 Gran Canaria: Catamaran Dolphin Watch Cruise with Snorkeling
- 2 From Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria: Dolphin Watching Cruise
- 3 Gran Canaria: Dolphin and Whale Watching Cruise
The volcanic crown
Roque Nublo & the Cumbre
Drive up from the coast and the island changes completely: pine forest, terraced valleys and thin mountain air. At the centre stands Roque Nublo, an 80-metre volcanic monolith the old Canarians held sacred, with the whole island, and Teide across the water, laid out below.
- 1 From Palmas: Pico de las Nieves & Roque Nublo Full-Day Trip
- 2 Gran Canaria: Rural Villages Guided Sightseeing Tour
- 3 Firgas, Tejeda, Guayadeque – VIP Tour Gran Canaria
Start with the standout
The one trip more people book than any other.
More travellers plan a day on Gran Canaria around this one than anything else on the island.
The classics
Gran Canaria's Most Popular Tours
Catamaran dolphin cruises, the Maspalomas camels, the Mogán submarine and the grand island day tour. The trips most travellers come to the island for.
Where to begin
The experiences a Gran Canaria trip is built around.
The boat cruises, the dolphin trips, the Maspalomas dunes, the island day tours, the snorkelling and the off-road runs. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
One island, many worlds
A miniature continent.
People call Gran Canaria a continent in miniature, and an hour’s drive proves it. Three very different islands share the one coastline, and most trips end up tasting all three.
Maspalomas
A desert that runs to the sea.
At the southern tip the land turns to pure Saharan sand: a protected dune field that shifts on the trade winds and slides right down to the Atlantic, with a 19th-century lighthouse standing guard at the edge. Walk it barefoot at dawn, or cross it on a camel between the palm grove and the shore.
See the best dune and camel rides →Mojo, ron and platanos
The island on a plate.
Gran Canaria eats well and locally: wrinkled papas arrugadas under red and green mojo, sweet little Canarian bananas straight off the plantation, sharp island cheeses and a glass of honey rum from Arucas. Market tours, tastings and the working farms that grow it all.
See the food and market tours →The Atlantic
Dolphins on the doorstep, all year.
The deep water off the south coast holds resident pods of bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales the whole year round, one of the few places in Europe where the sighting is close to guaranteed. Catamarans and small boats run out from Puerto Rico and Mogán into water so clear you swim straight off the back.
Dolphin & whale cruises →The interior
The road up to Roque Nublo.
Above the resorts the island rears up into an old volcano: pine forest, the almond valleys around Tejeda, Pico de las Nieves at nearly two thousand metres, and Roque Nublo itself, the 80-metre rock the first Canarians worshipped. Guided days link the best viewpoints and the white mountain villages.
- 1 From Palmas: Pico de las Nieves & Roque Nublo Full-Day Trip
- 2 Gran Canaria: Rural Villages Guided Sightseeing Tour
- 3 Firgas, Tejeda, Guayadeque – VIP Tour Gran Canaria
By intensity
Pick your day, from sea level up.
The island answers every gear. Flat-calm on the water when you want to drift, out into the volcanic backcountry when you want some grit, and bolted to a cliff when you want to find out what you are made of.
Take it easy
Out on the Atlantic.Catamaran cruises off the south coast, dolphin boats from Puerto Rico, and a long afternoon swimming in clear water.
Get out there
Into the volcanic south.Buggies and quads through the barrancos, jeep runs out to the villages, and camel trains across the Maspalomas dunes.
Go all in
Climb it, drop down it.Via ferrata bolted to the cliffs, canyoning down the ravines, coasteering along the rocks, and a tandem jump over the dunes.
Off-road
Off the tarmac and into the barrancos.
The south of the island is cut through with barrancos, the dry volcanic ravines that run from the mountains to the sea, and the best way through them is loud. Two-seat buggies and quads convoy up the dirt tracks past the reservoirs and the abandoned villages, with the dust, the views and the odd goat. Jeep tours take the same country at a gentler pace.
See all 19 buggy & quad tours →By place
The island, six corners.
Maspalomas for the dunes and the sun. Mogán for the painted marina. Puerto Rico for the dolphin boats. Las Palmas for the city and the old town. Roque Nublo for the mountains. Agaete for the green, banana-growing north.
By activity
Pick how to spend the day.
A catamaran if you want the open Atlantic. A mask if you want the reef. A buggy if you want the dust. Or a camel, the mountains, and a long lunch in a market town.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
Never been? Here is a long weekend that takes in the water, the mountains and the dunes without a wasted hour.
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