What a travel learning moment! I just finished two weeks in Las Palmas (on the Canary Island of Gran Canaria) and my experience went from hating to really enjoying the place. I am thankful I booked two full weeks in this city so that I could give it time to get used to and discover what makes it one of Europe's favorite warm destinations.
I stayed my first week in Pura Vida Hostel, which had everything a hostel needs but just didn't hit the right vibe. The owner, Miguel, was a Spanish surfer guy that kept the place fun and let me try all different boards from his quiver, but it was a strange mix of middle aged and older people that I really didn't share much in common with. On top of that, the ocean was essentially flat this whole week so it really affected my perception of the place (read: flat ocean = sad Katia).
That first week, I decided to stay busy by taking various day trips around the island on the bus. Stay tuned for the next post for some of my favorite spots beyond the city! Here I'll talk about some of the highlights of Las Palmas, a city of around 400,000 people which actually makes it one of the biggest cities in Spain. That was definitely a surprise for me given that I didn't really research the place and was expecting a city perhaps the size of the cities on the Azores hahahaha. On the contrary, this place actually has a population the size of Honolulu! And I think a similar tourist culture, higher prices, and the bright blue water that also attracts people to Hawaii. While it has been called the Hawaii of Europe by some, I am in strong disagreement with this statement because there is a whole lotta desert here and not a lot of greenery (and this is one of the reasons I didn't fall in love with the place because my nature-y side wasn't fully satisfied with the lack of vegetation on most the island).
The Canaries have been called the "best climate in the world" and I think this is most definitely a true statement! They don't go through seasons like the rest of the world, hitting an even 65-75 degrees at almost all parts of the day. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it's super hot, but it's mostly comfortable all night and all day.
Something super convenient about Las Palmas is that the city itself has its on surf spots! I'm always looking for the surf hostels that put you right on a surf break. The main break that I surfed was La Cicer, at the end of Playa Las Canteras. Las Canteras is a massive beach spanning two miles down the city, with a promenade the entire way. While it's kinda wonderful, it gets super redundant to walk back and forth down that beach which is why I recommend you stay near La Cicer, on the south end of Las Canteras so you don't have to commute far to surf. La Cicer is a beach break (lowkey kinda a shorebreak ahaha) right in front of the fabulous Ventana Azul hostel. Ventana is aptly named for being a blue window to the sea, as its just one property away from the beachside and the terrace gives you a head-on view of the surf! No webcam needed ;)
Right next to Cicer is a reef break with mostly lefts called Muellitos. I tried and failed to surf this wave, which only breaks at low tide. My conclusion is you cannot really short board this break because it is too slow and mushy, but longboarders and beginners seem to have a lot of fun and easy paddling. On the opposite side of this jetty, there is also a break that you can surf at low tide when there is swell. I didn't go myself, but my advanced surfer friends enjoyed it albeit getting a little scraped up on the entry/exit.
The other wave you have to check is El Confital, basically the most famous wave on the island. The edge of the island has a little prominence called La Isleta with a barren, desert beach and a crazy, reefy barrel. This spot is pretty heavily localized and we somehow got lucky getting a few sessions in without too much intervention. The key here is to come at a medium or high tide only, since at low tide it breaks much too close to the reef (and hence there are no surfers in the water). I also had a really unpleasant session here when the waves were a 3-5 feet and clean, since the locals basically talked me out of the water with their warnings. I was super hoping to get barreled, but we'll have to save that for another day!
El Confital photo shoot while we waited for the tide to fill in.
One of my secrets for finding the best spots in town or on the island is to follow Instagram tourism accounts which often leads you to fun neighborhoods! I explored Vegueta for the day, which is the old town of Las Palmas and largely where Columbus put up shop when he cross the Atlantic (gross). It was still nice to see the more colonial architecture and have my first proper tapas meal in Spain on the lovely Plaza Santa Ana.
The best spot to watch the sunset in town (or go for a lovely long run) would also be near La Isleta, where you can summit up to a cross on the hill and get a 360 view of waves, hills, and Las Palmas down below. As with lots of islands, the sunsets and sunrises are often a little muted by clouds on the horizon, so hopefully you can time it with a particularly colorful sunset like we did!
The bus card to get around is pretty simple and the buses are pretty well connected in the city-- if you manage to buy a pass, try to do so for the blue buses which are more useful than the red.
Some favorite places to eat and drink in Las Palmas were the Irish Rover for a convenient, cheap pub and the Block for affordable coffee or breakfast in the mornings. I didn't have the best luck finding vegetarian food so would recommend going for cheap Indian food or the delicious vegan/veggie options at The Classroom when you finally decided to eat the bullet to eat out.
Overall, I was happy I found some good friends, decent waves, and some activities to keep me busy in a city that I didn't totally fall in love with.... personally, I probably won't be back to Las Palmas but that doesn't mean you won't enjoy it for yourself! I am happy I got to be part of the island city life for a short two weeks and will keep looking for the place that makes me feel right at home.
