One of the closest and easiest "remote" beaches to get to, this is my favourite when looking for something with a local feel and none or few tourists.
Gran Canaria Beaches
So this is going to be an ongoing project which we started back in the summer of 2013 to cover all of the main beaches of Gran Canaria, whether it be a man-made tourist beach in the touristy part of the south or something more natural and deserted on the west coast perhaps.
Gran Canaria has more than 80 beaches (more than 100 if all the smaller, rocky coves are included) to choose from, many are golden sand, dark volcanic sand, pebbles .... we have pretty much all types of beaches here. The beaches in the towns and resorts are developed for the mainstream/tourism whilst those more secluded remain (for the moment) unspoilt havens to discover.
Have a look at the map below and where you see "Playa" then there's a beach. The map's split into 4 parts for easier viewing
Before I get started, a few things to bear in mind that perhaps you didn't know about beaches here :-
- All beaches are public. If a hotel decides to spend a small fortunate improving one of the beaches, it still has to remain accessible to the public.
- Saturdays beaches get much busier than normal as many locals use them and Sundays they get very, very busy as most locals are using them.
- All ball games should be played 100 meters back from the shoreline. Of course nobody really pays much attention to this rule but if you're playing by the sea and someone complains, they are right and you are wrong.
- No camping or BBQ on any beach. Again , on some more secluded beaches this rule is often broken but should the police come along there'll be problems.
- Puerto Rico, Amadores and Mogan beaches are mainly non-smoking each with its own smoking zone. Also on these beaches swimming after dark is not permitted.
- A sun bed is 2.50 / 3.00 euros for the day and an umbrella is another 2.50 / 3.00 euros (price depends on which beach)
- Here is a nice link to check the sea temperature and as it's aimed for surfers, you can also check the wave forecast & other conditions.
There's a little extra info also in our blog section here
Playa de los Cuervitos & Tres Peos
As you can see from the photos above, Playa de los Cuervitos (pebbles) and Playa de los Tres Peos (golden sand) are two small beaches side by side in the same cove. The volcanic rock that runs out into the ocean seperates them; it also prevents the pebbles from los Cuervitos and neighbouring Playa de las Cruces from reaching Playa de los Tres Peos.
Playa de Mogan
In the spring of 2013 a motorway extension was opened that now takes you all the way to Mogan. Previously the last part of the journey was along a scary cliff-top road that took anything from 20 minutes to half an hour (from Puerto Rico). Now along the new motorway it’s 5 minutes or so. This makes Mogan an even more appealing day out if you combine its charm with its Marina with its restaurants with its beach.
Playa de Vargas / las Cruces
Playa de las Cruces is an extension to the beach of Vargas. I never realised there was a difference and always called the whole thing Playa Vargas as do most people but officially the first small cove as you arrive is Playa de Vargas then the long stretch (1 kilometer maybe) of pebble beach after that is "Playa de las Cruces".
Playa del Hombre
Large dark-sand beach with plenty of space for the surfers to the left and bathers to the right though most locals head to the neighbouring beach and leave the surfers to themselves here.
Playa del Ingles
Playa del Ingles beach is roughly 3 kilometres long and at its far point starts Maspalomas beach which is another 3 kilometres. Additionally the two beaches border what’s known as Maspalomas sand dunes and they in turn go back some 2 kilometres in parts so all in all quite a spectacular area of golden-sand beach.
