The Canary Guide

Canary Islands Beaches

From golden dunes to jet-black volcanic sand and sheltered family bays — the best beaches across the Canary Islands, island by island.

Gran Canaria

Playa de Maspalomas

A vast golden beach backed by protected desert dunes and a landmark lighthouse.

The sheltered golden crescent of Playa de los Amadores near Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria

Playa de Amadores

A man-made horseshoe of imported golden sand with calm, turquoise water — a family favourite.

The golden sands and sheltered bay of Playa de Puerto Rico on southern Gran Canaria

Puerto Rico Beach

A compact, sheltered resort beach with a marina, watersports and some of the sunniest weather on the island.

Playa de las Canteras

One of Europe's finest city beaches — 3 km of sand, a natural reef lagoon and a buzzing seafront promenade.

Puerto de las Nieves

A whitewashed fishing village on the green north-west coast — pebble beaches, natural sea pools and superb fresh fish.

Playa de San Agustín

A sheltered dark-sand beach in the calm, grown-up resort of San Agustín — quieter than its famous neighbours.

Playa de Tauro

A quiet, sunny pale-sand bay between Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogán, with calm, shallow water.

Playa de Veneguera

A wild, undeveloped beach at the mouth of a dramatic valley — for those who like their sand with no sunbeds.

The isolated cliff-backed beach of Güigüí, reachable only on foot or by boat, on western Gran Canaria

Playa de Güi Güi

One of the island's last wild secrets — a golden beach under towering cliffs, reached only on foot or by boat.

The seafront promenade beside the coast at Arinaga on the east coast of Gran Canaria

Playa de Arinaga

A local, low-key east-coast town beach with a long promenade — a diving and windsurfing favourite away from the resorts.

Playa de Melenara

A local east-coast favourite in Telde — calm dark sand and a seafront lined with some of the island's best fish restaurants.

Playa del Cura

A small, calm, low-key beach between Puerto Rico and Taurito — a sheltered sun-trap without the resort crowds.

Playa de Taurito

A sheltered dark-sand bay with a big seawater lido complex behind it — calm, sunny and made for families.

Rocky turquoise shoreline of Playa del Confital below La Isleta, Las Palmas

Playa de El Confital

A wild, crystal-clear beach on the edge of Las Palmas with a world-famous surf break — the city's raw, untamed side.

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Playa de Vargas

A wild east-coast beach and world windsurfing arena — big wind, big waves and championship sailing, not sunbathing.

Playa de La Laja

Las Palmas's long southern city beach — dark sand, a breezy promenade and a local, everyday feel away from the tourists.

Playa de las Teresitas

Golden imported sand, a palm-lined promenade and calm water just north of the capital — where Tinerfeños go to swim.

The black volcanic sand of Playa El Bollullo below green cliffs near La Orotava, Tenerife

Playa Bollullo

A wild, black-sand cove backed by cliffs and banana plantations — reached on foot and worth every step.

Playa del Duque

The smart end of Costa Adeje — golden sand, chic beach clubs and calm water below five-star hotels.

The wide sandy beach of El Médano below the Montaña Roja headland in southern Tenerife

Playa de El Médano

A long, breezy natural beach that's the wind- and kitesurfing capital of the Canaries, with a bohemian town behind it.

Playa de Benijo

A cinematic black-sand beach with rocky sea stacks at the wild end of the Anaga peninsula — for looks, not lounging.

Playa de la Arena

A neat Blue Flag beach of jet-black sand in a sheltered, sunny west-coast bay beside the cliffs of Los Gigantes.

Playa de Fañabé

Costa Adeje's long, immaculate golden beach — calm water, a great promenade and every facility, made for families.

Playa de Troya

The pick of the Playa de las Américas beaches — golden sand, Blue Flag and right in the heart of the action.

Palm-lined golden sand of Playa del Camisón at sunset, near Los Cristianos, Tenerife

Playa El Camisón

A calm, breakwater-sheltered golden cove between Los Cristianos and Las Américas — one of the south's best family beaches.

Playa de Abama

A secluded golden cove of imported sand below the cliffs of the west coast — calm, clear and gloriously quiet.

Playa de las Vistas

Los Cristianos's long golden Blue Flag beach — calm, groomed and brilliantly equipped, a family favourite in the south.

Playa de la Tejita

A long, wild natural beach under the red cone of Montaña Roja — golden, breezy and refreshingly undeveloped.

Black-sand Playa Jardin and Castillo San Felipe at Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife

Playa Jardín

A gorgeous black-sand beach framed by Manrique's gardens in Puerto de la Cruz — the pick of the green north coast.

Houses along the low coast of the fishing village of Alcala, south-west Tenerife

Playa de Alcalá

A calm little beach in an authentic fishing village on the sunny south-west coast — a quiet local alternative to the resorts.

Playa del Socorro

A Blue Flag black-sand beach on the green north coast — the locals' favourite surf beach, with real Atlantic power (mind the flags).

Roque de las Bodegas

A wild black-sand beach deep in the Anaga hills, backed by a row of superb fish restaurants — dramatic scenery and strong surf.

Wild Atlantic surf on the black sand of Playa de Almaciga, Anaga, Tenerife

Playa de Almáciga

A cinematic wild black beach at the roadless end of Anaga, beside Benijo — for scenery and surfers, not casual swimmers.

Papagayo Beaches

A string of sheltered golden coves in a protected reserve — Lanzarote's most beautiful swimming beaches.

Playa de Famara

A vast, wild sweep of sand under towering cliffs — a surfers' beach with big Atlantic power (and strong currents).

The sandy town beach of Playa Blanca curving toward its marina in southern Lanzarote

Playa Blanca Beaches

Calm, family-friendly town coves with a long promenade — and the jumping-off point for Papagayo and the Fuerteventura ferry.

Playa de los Pocillos

Puerto del Carmen's long, wide golden beach — calmer and more spacious than the old-town end of the resort.

Playa Chica

A tiny sheltered cove in Puerto del Carmen — the island's favourite shore-diving and snorkelling spot.

Caletón Blanco

White sand and turquoise pools framed by black lava on the wild north coast — a photogenic, shallow family favourite.

Playa de las Mujeres

One of the loveliest of the wild Papagayo coves — golden sand and turquoise water in a protected reserve (bring your own supplies).

Playa de la Garita

A calm, golden village beach at Arrieta on the quiet north-east coast — a local, unhurried spot away from the resorts.

The green Charco de los Clicos lagoon and black beach at El Golfo, Lanzarote

El Golfo Beach

A jet-black beach speckled with green olivine, right beside the famous green lagoon — dramatic scenery and superb fresh fish.

Playa Quemada

A peaceful dark beach in a tiny fishing hamlet off the tourist trail — for quiet, coastal walks and fresh fish.

The wide pale sands of the Grandes Playas beside the Corralejo dunes, Fuerteventura

Grandes Playas de Corralejo

Kilometres of white sand and turquoise sea beside the Corralejo dunes — Fuerteventura's showpiece beach.

Playa de Sotavento

A vast white beach with a shimmering lagoon at low tide — and one of the world's great windsurfing spots.

Playa de Cofete

A remote, jaw-dropping 12 km of wild sand below the mountains — one of Europe's last great empty beaches (and dangerous to swim).

Turquoise lagoons and pale sand at the beaches of El Cotillo on northern Fuerteventura

El Cotillo Beaches

Sheltered turquoise lagoons for the kids and wild surf beaches for everyone else, beside a mellow fishing village.

The broad golden expanse of Playa del Matorral at Morro Jable on the Jandía peninsula, Fuerteventura

Playa del Matorral (Jandía)

Morro Jable's enormous white-sand beach — kilometres of sand, a nature reserve behind it and a landmark lighthouse.

Playa de Ajuy

A striking black-sand beach and fishing village on the west coast — and the gateway to Fuerteventura's ancient sea caves.

Playa de la Pared

A wild west-coast surf beach of gold-and-black sand, loved for its waves and spectacular sunsets (mind the currents).

Playa de Butihondo

A quieter stretch of the vast Jandía sands near Costa Calma — endless white sand and turquoise water, well away from the crowds.

The black-sand beach and promenade of Puerto de Tazacorte on the west coast of La Palma

Playa de Tazacorte

La Palma's sunniest beach — a broad sweep of black sand in a sheltered west-coast bay, backed by banana country.

Charco Azul

Natural volcanic sea pools on La Palma's green north-east coast — safe, clear swimming away from the Atlantic swell.

Puerto Naos

La Palma's biggest black-sand beach and sunniest resort — palm-lined and Blue Flag on the west coast.

Playa de los Cancajos

Sheltered black-sand coves near the capital and airport — calm, clear and the east coast's easiest swim.

Playa de Nogales

La Palma's most dramatic wild beach — vast black sand below towering cliffs, reached on foot (and no place for a casual swim).

Playa de Echentive

A brand-new black beach born from the 1971 eruption at La Palma's southern tip — wild, remote and dotted with natural pools.

Sheltered black-sand cove of Playa Charco Verde near Puerto Naos, La Palma

Playa de Charco Verde

A sheltered, sunny black-sand cove framed by banana palms near Puerto Naos — one of La Palma's calmest swims.

Playa de la Zamora

A wild black beach below the cliffs of the sunny south, near the Fuencaliente volcanoes — dramatic and blissfully quiet.

The terraced valley of Valle Gran Rey opening toward the sea on the west coast of La Gomera

Valle Gran Rey Beaches

Black-sand bays at the mouth of a dramatic terraced valley — La Gomera's sunny, laid-back beach corner.

Playa de Santiago

The sunniest corner of La Gomera — a quiet former fishing port with pebble beaches and reliable southern warmth.

Playa de la Caleta

A tranquil pebble cove on the lush east coast near Hermigua, with a natural sea pool and shady picnic spots.

The green El Golfo valley and its rugged coastline, home to the La Maceta rock pools, on El Hierro

La Maceta Natural Pools

Dramatic natural lava pools in the El Golfo bay — El Hierro's answer to a beach, and a wonderful place to swim.

Tacorón

A sheltered south-coast cove of turquoise water, sea caves and calm natural pools — quiet even by El Hierro's standards.

Playa del Verodal

A dramatic reddish-sand beach on El Hierro's wild west coast — spectacular and remote (and no place for a casual swim).

The golden imported sand of Playa de Las Teresitas at San Andres, Tenerife

The Best Beaches in Tenerife

Golden family beaches, wild black-sand coves and surf spots — Tenerife's best beaches ranked, and who each is for.

The golden sand dunes and beach of Maspalomas, southern Gran Canaria

The Best Beaches in Gran Canaria

The dunes, the family bays and a superb city beach — Gran Canaria's best beaches, and which suits your day.

The turquoise coves of Playas de Papagayo on the south coast of Lanzarote

The Best Beaches in Lanzarote

Wild turquoise coves and easy resort sands — Lanzarote's best beaches, from Papagayo to Famara.

Aerial view of the lagoon at Playa de Sotavento on the Jandia peninsula, Fuerteventura

The Best Beaches in Fuerteventura

The island of beaches — the dunes, the endless Jandía sands and wild Cofete, ranked and explained.

The calm, golden family beach of Playa de las Vistas in Los Cristianos, Tenerife

Best Family Beaches

Calm, shallow and golden — the safest, best-equipped beaches for a holiday with young children, island by island.