Water Activities in Gran Canaria

If you are into sea activities, there is a marine world crammed around the island’s beaches. In Puerto Rico, in Amadores, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Patalavaca, Puerto de Mogán, Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas… there are a thousand harbours in which visitors have an almost endless list of things to do. From diving to sailing, from surfing to aquabikes, plus whale spotting trips and kayak rowing. Water sports are very popular in Gran Canaria. From water-ski-ing to surfing, deep sea fishing to paragliding, it’s all here for you water babies! Many of the beaches in the more popular resorts offer holidaymakers the chance to hire jets skis, pedal boats, surf boards, or the easier option of body boards.

Weather conditions all year round make Gran Canaria the perfect destination for those looking for plenty of fun in the sea. Sea temperatures rarely drop below 18ºC in winter, the average temperature for the rest of the year being around 23°C.

The warm waters and weather favour all types of pursuit from sailing to scuba diving, and if you just want a one-off adrenalin rush, many beaches offer parascending, jet skis and water-skiing. For windsurfing beginners, Puerto Rico is a fine spot, whilst divers can enjoy a wonderful underwater world of subtropical fish, shipwrecks and caves, together with instruction from diving schools at all the principal resorts. Sailing and deep-sea fishing are also hugely popular, with sailing schools in most resorts and game-fishing boats leaving from all the main harbours to fish for species like swordfish, tuna and blue marlin.

Sailing is a particular favourite watersport in Gran Canaria – several sailing champions have hailed from the island. Sailing centres abound in sailing hotspots like Las Palmas, Puerto Rico, Puerto de Mogan, Arguineguin and Pasito Blanco. Puerto Rico particularly offers numerous sailing and boat trip opportunities for holidaymakers.

Windsurfing hotspots on Gran Canaria include Las Canteras beach at Las Palmas, the island’s capital. They get good winds and some nice surfing waves here too. Gran Canaria’s top windsurfing hub is Pozo Isquierdo just south of Vecindario and Playa de Vargas (see weblink right) where the big windsurfing grand prix is held annually. There’s plenty of lower key, beginner oriented windsurfing to be had around Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogan too!

Surfers and bodyboarders need to head north around the Galdar area and on the northern coast towards Las Palmas. There’s some good beginner surfer waves at Las Canteras beach in Las Palmas too.

Diving excursions are numerous and easily accessed from Gran Canaria’s main resorts. Diving hotspots include Arinaga and the protected Playa del Cabron and El Cabron Marine Reserve (see diving weblinks right).

Fishing fans, deep sea or angling, head to Puerto Rico to hook into the choice of numerous deep sea fishing trips from the little harbour. Boat trips and marine excursions are particularly good from Puerto Rico and increasingly Puerto de Mogan – you’ll often be bused to Puerto Rico from Maspalomas/Playa del Ingles for Catamaran excursions and other marine excursions. Other good choices for deep sea fishing include Pasito between Meloneras and Arguineguin on the south coast.

Watersports like jet skiing, water skiing and parascending are all available galore in the main southern resorts of Gran Canaria.