I remember one evening twelve years ago when I was at
a friends house in Tenerife. I had found myself in conversation with another English lady about the neighbouring island
of La Palma and the fact that it is
often to referred to as La Isla Bonita. We agreed that it is indeed a beautiful island.
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| Santa Cruz de La Palma |
‘Yes,’ she continued with perhaps more enthusiasm than was
strictly necessary, ‘but you can’t
live
there!’
Most of my answer was apparently drowned out by the rising
background noise but anyway, why
couldn’t you live there I insisted on knowing.
‘There’s no hospital for a start!’ she replied in a shocked
voice, although conceding that an airport was a possibility for the future.
Eventually, I managed to get her to understand that there is
indeed a hospital and in fact there is an International airport already in existence and has been for many years. But I
had a harder time convincing her that La Palma,
yes sleepy La Palma, is my home.
So what else is there to know about La
Palma?
How to get there
The first airport on La Palma
opened in 1955 and in 1970 it moved to its current location in Mazo, by the
east coast. In 2011 a new and larger airport was built and in that year it
handled over 1 million passengers. From the UK
there are direct flights from both Manchester
and Gatwick with Thomsons. The airport code is SPC. There are also direct flights from Germany, Spain and the Netherlands plus inter-islands flights from Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
For ferries, the
port
of Santa Cruz de La
Palma
serves Fred Olsen, Acciona Trasmediterranea and Naviera Armas. There is a new
marina at
Santa Cruz and a second
port/marina at Tazacorte in the west of
La Palma.
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| Flight from Tenerife to La Palma |
Accommodation
There are many casas rurales (the traditional Canarian
cottages) dotted about the landscape which are available for rent along with
apartments, hotels, pensions (room only) and even a few bed and breakfasts.
Shops
La Palma has
many large supermarkets (Hiper Dino, San Martin, Trebol) and smaller Spar
supermarkets all of which are open all day. There is also a covered fruit and
vegetable market in both
Santa Cruz
and Los Llanos and weekend markets in Puntagorda, Mazo, Puntallana and Barlovento.
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| Puntagorda Market with Artesenia products |
Beaches
Whilst La Palma
does not have a great abundance of broad swathes of golden sands, it
does however have a good number of black sand beaches, hidden
coves and sea water pools.
The main beaches are at the resorts of Los Cancajos in the east and Puerto Naos and
Tazacorte in the west although there are other sandy beaches dotted around the
island. There is also a new beach under construction on the waterfront of the
capital of Santa Cruz in addition to excellent beach at Bajamar, just off the road out of the capital to the south.
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| Beach at Tazacorte, La Palma |
Transport
Cars can be hired either on-line in advance or whilst on the
island at the airport or in the towns.
There is also an excellent bus service (even in the rural north of the
island) and no single bus journey costs more than 2€.
Walking routes
La Palma has
over 1000km of marked trails through ever-changing and spectacular scenery. The
main long distance trails are the GR130 Camino Real (8 days) which goes around
the perimeter of the island linking hidden hamlets, gorges, towns and beaches
and the GR131 El Bastón (3/4 days) which includes the
Volcano
Route and the Roque de Muchachos at 2426m. Other
walks pass through the Laurisilva
forest
of Los Tilos, pine forests, lava
fields and country meadows.
What is there to do?
The fun on La Palma
is generally provided by the beauty and nature of the island as there are no
theme parks, bowling alleys, skating rinks or disco-pubs pock-marking the boulevards. In no particular order, these are some of the
great things to do and see:
Roque de Muchachos
- the highest point of the island at 2426m
La Caldera - a
near complete circular mountain ridge measuring 10km in diameter and 2000m deep
La Cumbrecita - a stunning viewpoint
and walk along the ridge of the Caldera
Volcanoes – the
last eruption was Teneguia in 1971
Los Tilos – ancient
forest of Laurisilva,
a species from the age of Dinosaurs
La Zarza forest
and archaeological park with pre-Hispanic rock engravings
Salt Pans of
Fuencaliente (area of Scientific Interest and whose waters attract migratory
birds)
The rural north
with its hidden hamlets, caves, fresh water springs and ancient dwellings with
wooden roofs
Weekend markets with fresh organic produce and local handicrafts
Historic capital of
Santa Cruz with its
flower-festooned balconies, cobbled streets and splendid mansions.
Guided tour of the observatory at Roque de Muchachos to see how the stars are observed on La Palma
Various museums including the Naval museum, Silk museum, Banana museum and Archaeological museum
Dolphin and whale watching from the boats out of Tazacorte harbour
SCUBA diving, snorkelling, swimming and sunbathing
Paragliding - La Palma is often cited as the best place in Spain for Paragliding
In short, if you are bored while on holiday in La Palma, you are probably on the wrong Canarian Island!
