The beaches of La Gomera

The beaches of San Sebastián

Directly connected to the capital of La Gomera there are two beaches. The city beach, Playa de San Sebastián, which is located directly opposite the port and offers its visitors 500 meters of fine black sand beach. Permanently installed parasols made of palm leaves offer shady places and give an exotic flair. Due to its port proximity, the beach is not considered to be completely clean, but it is still very popular with local visitors, especially in summer.

The Playa de la Cueva, located directly next to the Marina La Gomera, is a little quieter, cleaner and also equipped with fine sand. Visitors can reach it via a small tunnel north of the harbour. Swimming is relatively safe here, as the beach is surrounded by natural rock barriers.

About 6 km north of San Sebastian there is Playa de Avalo, a pebble beach about 220 metres long, in a small and picturesque bay that is ideally protected from the wind by two rock walls. Once a holiday resort should be installed here, but only ruins remind of that. In summer you can swim here wonderfully away from the mass tourism, but in winter you have to be careful because of the rough waves.

Those who are good on foot will be rewarded with the Playa de la Guancha after a one and a half hour walk that starts behind the bus station in San Sebastian in direction to El Cabrito. The romantic and lonely bay is about 500 meters long and consists of pebbles and sand. Those who made it here can enjoy a fantastic view to the neighbouring island Tenerife and because of the mostly low waves also protected bathing fun.

The beaches of Valle Gran Rey

There is a special variety of beaches in the touristic well developed Valle Gran Rey in the southwest of La Gomera.

The sandy beach of Playa de Vueltas, sheltered from the wind, is located behind the pier in the harbour basin, which is mainly used by fishing boats and offers an impressive view of towering volcanic rocks next to the azure ocean. With its length of 150 metres, it is quite comfortable. Especially for families with small children, as it is well protected against the surf and quite clean despite its proximity to the harbour.

Only one other beach on La Gomera, called “Baby Beach”, is even smaller and more protected than this one. The rocky spurs in front of the sandy beach form a kind of nice lagoon, which makes it possible to swim like in a small pool. This beach is located in the bay better known to locals as Charco del Conde, opposite the restaurant and hotel of the same name - a little further north from the harbour towards La Puntilla.

The main beach La Playa, also called Playa de Valle Gran Rey, stretches from Puntilla - the small headland which gives the name - to the promenade of the district La Playa. At low tide and mostly only in summer, it can rightly be called the "longest beach on La Gomera" with its one kilometre long black sandy beach. Tourists and locals alike enjoy the shallow shore and the often calm sea that invites to bath, play ball and sunbathe. In winter, the sand is mostly removed and the stones underneath become visible which forms two separate beaches with a stony part in the middle.

At the other end of the sunny village Valle Gran Rey, the road from La Playa turns northwards and after a few hundred metres into a parking place that leads over a short walking path to one of the most beautiful and impressive beaches of La Gomera, if not the world - the Playa del Ingles. Here, all elements of the earth come together in a breathtaking beauty and natural wilderness, that its first visit already seduced some visitors to return flight failures or change of residence on the island. Rugged huge volcanic rocks rise majestically and steeply in various shades of black, red and brown from a black sand ground, which is also populated by wild rock formations. A fascinating spectacle of huge waves rolling from the deep blue Atlantic and run out on the fine sandy beach inevitably fascinates the observer. This beach is also popular with nudists.

Due to the undercurrents, which are usually not visible at first glance, swimming here is not recommended. In the past years, there have been several fatal bathing accidents because the holiday guests were not aware of this danger. Meanwhile there are warning signs indicating this. Also the red flag, which is always hoisted at Playa del Ingles, means swimming prohibition.

The beaches of Playa Santiago

In the sun-drenched and relaxed former fishing village Playa Santiago in the south of the island there are various beautiful beaches, including some in unspoilt areas. However, some of them can only be reached via narrow winding roads or even on foot.

The beach Playa de Santiago with a length of 800 metres is located directly in the village, of which a beach section with a length of approximately 250 metres and filled sand invites to protected bathing, as an outer pier shields the Atlantic currents.

Further east, a side road leads past the Hotel Tecina to the first of three beaches, which stretch over several unspoilt rugged barrancos, Playa de Tapahuga. The 250 metre long pebble beach is easy to reach by car and from Hotel Tecina by a 15-minute walk, which is why it is always well frequented.

A narrow asphalt road winding in numerous serpentines leads to the next bay, Playa del Medio, for beach worshippers seeking solitude. The pebble beach can also easily be reached on foot in approx. 45 minutes via the GR 132 long-distance hiking trail and is also popular amongst nudists for relatively undisturbed nude bathing.

Those who are looking for even more peace and tranquillity will walk from this beach for another 15 minutes on a narrow path marked with a red dot to the east. After crossing a small ridge, the brave excursionists are rewarded with the discovery of a beautiful, lonely and unspoilt beach, Playa de Chinguarime. Many nature lovers use the naturally formed caves in the volcanic rocks also for wintering, for a vacation or simply for a weekend under "simplest conditions". The beach itself is mainly coarse gravelly and quite well protected against the surf.

The beach of Alojera

At the foot of the small, idyllic and with numerous palm trees equipped village in the northwest of the island, we find a beautiful and quite untouched beach, the Playa de Alojera.

The beach of Alojera is about 200 metres long and consists partly of gravel and partly of sand. Depending on the season and the water level, the sand strip can become quite narrow. However, the steep rock walls protect the small bay well from the northeast trade winds. Especially in summer, many Canarian holidaymakers bring this rather remote place back to life. If the access to the sea is too stony for you, a small natural swimming pool at the northern tip of the bay invites you to swim and splash around. A real highlight of this beach are the impressive sunsets that make a visit to the sleepy village, which has hardly more than 400 inhabitants, an unforgettable experience.

The beach of La Rajita

Those who follow the road from Chipude in southern direction to La Dama experience a descent through numerous banana plantations on a quite new asphalt road that after 4 kilometres flows into a lonely bay, the Playa de La Rajita. This beach consists exclusively of pebbles and offers with an empty fish factory a quite unusual scenery. Until almost 35 years ago, tuna was canned here and shipped to Spain. A kiosk, of whose current existence and opening hours nobody knows any more details, sweetens the stay of the rare visitor with self-produced wine and other delicacies. Only in summer there is a bit of hustle and bustle due to the numerous locals who like to visit the beach for bathing and relaxing.

The beach of La Caleta

The sandy beach of La Caleta in the north is one of the most beautiful beaches of La Gomera. The romantic and lonely bay lies 6 kilometres east of Hermigua. It can be reached via a well-developed road by car or by a one-hour walk on a stony path over the mountain ridge, from the eastern edge of Playa Santa Catalina in Hermigua. The 200 metre long beach of La Caleta with its picnic tables and shade roofs invites you to relax. It is also one of the few beaches of the island which offers sanitary facilities and showers.

The beach of Santa Catalina (Hermigua)

The beach district Santa Catalina in Hermigua is preceded by the beach section of the same name Playa Santa Catalina, often also called Playa de Hermigua. This stony beach is over 500 meters long, but because of the unpredictable currents and extremely strong waves quite dangerous and unfortunately only rarely suitable for bathing.

For this reason, a natural seawater swimming pool has been built. The waves fill the pool again and again and so you can swim relatively safely on calm days. Nevertheless, you should be careful, because especially in the winter months very big waves can "hit" the pool out of nowhere!

The beach of Iguala

This small unknown beach of Iguala is especially important for the locals, as they enjoy themselves there - mainly in summer. The playa de Iguala offers pleasant bathing conditions all year round, because the tides here are quite mild and it is almost always sunny because of the southern orientation. In summer it is also full of sand and therefore a real insider tip. The small but fine bay can be reached either from La Dama via a one-hour walk or from Valle Gran Rey by boat or kayak.