A Holiday in Puerto Naos, La Palma

Our last post was all about moving abroad, finding a house and then some of the work that is involved in restoring it. However this post is pretty much the opposite - having a bit of a holiday while still on La Palma.
OK, so the holiday was only one night admittedly but spending even a short amount of time on a different part of the island really does add a different dimension to it all. But then again, I suppose that's why we offer a two-centre holiday on La Palma as an option!
Just for a complete change, from all the places we could have chosen to stay, we chose Puerto de Naos in the west. This was perhaps a strange choice for us because it is a place that we don't frequent very often although we do go from time to time, either for a spot of snorkeling or to try a restaurant that somebody has recommended.  But overall, really we are much more familiar with Tazacorte as a beach resort. And that of course is exactly why it was a good idea to go to Puerto Naos.
Just to carry the theme a little further, it followed then that we should stay in the Hotel Sol at Puerto Naos. It is quite a few years since we last went to the hotel, not that we stayed for the week or even night but rather walked from the car park to the foyer and back again!  Hardly enough to get a fair impression! So definitely a chance to try it out for real.

The drive to Puerto Naos is a far cry from the sweeping green-clad barrancos of the north. There are however pine trees higher up on the western flank of the Cumbre plus of course bananas in their thousands so there is still a good deal of greenery but this is also volcano country. Ropey lava, pillow lava and just plain old lumps of lava in it's solidified state. It's all there if you wish to get out of your car and have an inspection. 
Once you turn off the main road and start heading down towards Puerto Naos and the sea, then you will also have the tantalizing view of the bay below.

Puerto Naos is in fact one of just three seaside resorts on La Palma along with Los Cancajos and Puerto de Tazacorte. That makes it sound all rather bucket-and-spadey, not that there is anything wrong with that, but it certainly isn't a case of mass tourism. It's what I call 'Tranquil Tourism.' For whilst there are quite a few self-catering apartments to rent in Puerto Naos, along with the Hotel Sol, it is still relatively quiet.
Apart, unfortunately, from the fact there they are 're-designing' the promenade at the moment which does involve removing certain sections of it and replacing it with who knows what. I sincerely hope that in the next two months with the lead up to Christmas and New Year that it will all be completed.
But it should be said that if you can manage to ignore that small fact, and let's face it these things have to be done sometime, then it is still mainly possible to walk along the front and not all of it is effected anyway.

As it happened, by the time we arrived at Puerto Naos, it was already almost 6pm so, after checking into the hotel, we didn't waste too much time before springing back out again for a stroll along the front. From the hotel, it really is just two minutes to the beach and then a few more minutes to where the restaurants and bars line the promenade.

At the far end of the bay is where many of the apartments are located and of course we wanted to check these out too!  It was also a good chance to look at a few menus and see where we might like to eat later in the evening.

Right at the end of the bay, there is another very small bay. This is often where you see the SCUBA divers entering the water. We haven't dived here yet but we have snorkeled on several occasions and were surprised at how good it was. But this is probably where you will find the most character in Puerto Naos with a few small fishing boats by the bay and single apartments hanging over the sea.

From here, a long flight of steps take you up into what you might call apartment land. But even so, it is only a matter of a couple of streets and many of them are low level. In fact, there is one very attractive group of apartments that caught my eye, just two-stories high and all the apartments painted in pastel colours, clustered around a pool.
They say that time flies, especially when you're enjoying yourself. It was time to wander back to the hotel just in time to catch the sunset.