Gran Canaria, from the dunes up.
Which boat out of Puerto Rico actually finds dolphins. Whether the camel string is worth twenty minutes. Why the north sits under cloud while your beach is in full sun. Every tour on the island, reviewed and ranked.
Gran Canaria is two islands, and your hotel already picked one.
Fifty kilometres of motorway separates a working Atlantic city from a strip of dune-side resorts. Almost everything bookable leaves from one end or the other, and the drive is the part nobody budgets for.
The southSun, dunes, and a harbour full of boats
Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas and Meloneras run into each other along the same beach, with the protected dune field in the middle and the lighthouse at the end. Everything with an engine — buggies, jeeps, jet skis, catamarans — picks up from a hotel door down here, usually before nine.
- 1Guided Camel Ride in the Maspalomas Sand Dunesfrom $21
- 2From Mogán/Maspalomas/Arguineguín: Gran Canaria Day Tourfrom $52
- 3Palmitos Park Ticket with Dolphin and Bird Showsfrom $44
The northA capital that happens to have a surf beach
Las Palmas is a real city of 380,000 with a 3km beach down one side and a 500-year-old quarter, Vegueta, on the other. Days here are walking, eating and swimming rather than booking a coach — and the reef bar at the far end of Las Canteras keeps the water flat enough to snorkel.
- 1Poema del Mar Skip-the-Line Ticketfrom $32
- 28-Hour Gran Canaria Island Highlights Tourfrom $54
- 3City Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tourfrom $29
What everyone on Gran Canaria ends up booking.
Every review →Ordered by how many travellers have actually been and rated it. The top of this list barely moves from one season to the next.
1
Catamaran Dolphin Watch Cruise with Snorkeling
Catamaran dolphin watch off Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria with a swim stop in Taurito, snorkeling gear, and soft drinks.
From · $44
Read our review →
2
Guided Camel Ride in the Maspalomas Sand Dunes
from $21
3
Poema del Mar Skip-the-Line Ticket
from $32
4
Submarine Tour
from $45
5
Guided tour of the Banana World
from $18
6
Banana World Guided Tour & Tasting
from $17
7
Off-Road Buggy Adventure in the Canyons
from $76
8
Dolphin and Whale Watching Cruise
from $41
Which boat leaves Puerto Rico harbour.
All boat trips →
The channel between here and Tenerife holds resident dolphins and pilot whales all year, so sightings are the norm rather than the prize. What differs is the hull under you, the length of the day and whether lunch is included.
- 1Catamaran Dolphin Watch Cruise with Snorkelingfrom $44
- 2Dolphin and Whale Watching Cruisefrom $41
- 3Dolphin Watching Cruisefrom $47
Two or three hours, dolphins, back for lunch
A fast run out to the channel, engines off where the pods are working, and back to the marina before the afternoon wind gets up.
Catamaran, swim stop, food on board
Slower, wider, and built to sit on. The long sailings anchor off a cove for a swim and put a meal out, which is what the price difference buys.
A sailboat with a dozen people on it
Sail rather than throttle, no commentary over a PA, and a passenger list you can count. The Mogán boats run the same coast with a fraction of the crowd.
Puerto de Mogán, before the coaches arrive.
Whitewashed, bridged, and buried under bougainvillea — the fishing village at the western end of the motorway is the prettiest thing on the island and knows it. Come on a Friday for the market, or come at eight and have the canals to yourself.
What a day out on Gran Canaria costs.
Every tour on the site sorted by its from-price. The bands below are cut where the island's own prices actually cluster, not at round numbers.
Park and aquarium tickets, the camel string on the dunes, a market morning, an hour on a surfboard.
The island standard: dolphin sailings out of Puerto Rico, buggy runs into the barrancos, the cross-island coach day.
- 1Catamaran Dolphin Watch Cruise with Snorkelingfrom $44
- 2Submarine Tourfrom $45
- 3Off-Road Buggy Adventure in the Canyonsfrom $76
Private drivers, chartered sailboats, tandem flights, and the long guided days that go over the top and down the other side.
Gran Canaria goes up to 1,949 metres.
An hour inland from the sunbeds the road climbs into pine forest and basalt. Roque Nublo stands 80 metres out of the ridge at 1,800m; Pico de las Nieves tops the island above it. Take a fleece — it runs ten degrees colder up there than on the sand.
Dunes, barrancos, reef and rum: the Gran Canaria week.
The island is small enough to do a different thing every morning of a week. These are the six that fill most of them.
Only on Gran Canaria: camels, ferratas and banana groves.
Beaches and boat trips exist on every warm island. A camel string inside a protected dune field, a bolted route up a barranco wall and a plantation of Canarian bananas do not.
The Dune Camels
The 400 hectares of sand behind Playa del Inglés are a protected reserve, which is why you cannot simply wander in wherever you like — and why the camel string, on its fixed route from the eastern edge, has outlasted every other way of crossing it. Twenty minutes, in the cool hours at either end of the day, and the dunes look nothing like the postcards from ground level.
- 1Guided Camel Ride in the Maspalomas Sand Dunes★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 4,526 reviews
- 2Camel Ride Safari w/ Optional Food & Transport★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 1,167 reviews
- 3Camel Riding in Maspalomas Dunes★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 590 reviews
The Barranco Ferratas
A via ferrata is a climbing route with the hard part solved: steel rungs and a cable you clip into, up rock that would otherwise need a rope and a partner. Gran Canaria's barrancos have several, most within forty minutes of the south coast, and the operators supply the harness. No climbing experience, but a head for a long drop helps.
- 1Guided Via Ferrata Excursion★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 198 reviews
- 2Via Ferrata in Gran Canaria. Vertical adventure park. Small groups★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 183 reviews
- 3Cliff Climbing Via Ferrata Trip by Maspalomas★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 177 reviews
The Banana Farms
The Canarian banana is short, dense and sweet, protected by its own designation, and grown here under netting on terraces the size of a tennis court. The plantation visits explain why the fruit never leaves the archipelago in the shape you know from a supermarket — and end, reliably, in a tasting.
- 1Guided tour of the Banana World★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,431 reviews
- 2Banana World Guided Tour & Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 2,867 reviews
- 3Rum, Wines and Banana Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 261 reviews
Book these before you land at Gando.
Most of the island can be arranged from a sunbed the day before. These cannot — they run on a timetable, a cap on numbers, or the wind.
- 01Pico de las Nieves & Roque Nublo Full-Day TripThe trailhead car park on the Tejeda road is tiny, and the guided walks are timed to sunset. There is no desk on the mountain.
- 02Guided Camel Ride in the Maspalomas Sand DunesThe string only runs in the cool hours at either end of the day, on a timetable rather than on demand.
- 03Poema del Mar Skip-the-Line TicketTimed entry: the aquarium caps how many people are inside at once, and the good slots go first.
- 04Guided Via Ferrata ExcursionGuided only, in groups of a fixed size, with harnesses sized to the person. Walk-ups are not a thing.
The north wears a cloud cap. The south rarely does.
The trade winds pile cloud against the northern slopes most mornings — locals call it the panza de burro, the donkey's belly — while Maspalomas sits in full sun fifty kilometres away. It usually burns back by midday. The green side is where the walking, the wine and the cave villages are, so a grey morning up there is a feature, not a washout.
Gran Canaria by resort, town and village
Maspalomas83 tours
Las Palmas71 tours
Puerto de Mogán34 tours
Puerto Rico26 tours
Playa del Inglés24 tours
Teror & San Mateo13 tours- Tejeda6 tours
Arucas4 tours- Every review on the island →
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