The The pits is a major places to visit in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It is also the urban park of the Gran Canarios 365 days a year. This great beach in the capital of Gran Canaria has approximately three kilometers long. Furthermore, it is considered one of the most important beaches in the Canary Islands and Spain. In fact, she has several national and international recognitions.
Along the beach we have the Las Canteras walk where you can find a wide range of gastronomic, hotel and leisure activities in general. Next we are going to take you on a tour of the entire beach so that you don't miss anything. Come on!
Everything about Las Canteras beach
La Las Canteras beach It is divided into several zones where even the color of the sand varies. However, generally, It is characterized by its crystal clear waters and blonde sand. Also, One of the highlights of Las Canteras is the reef that runs through much of it.. we call it The bar. Thanks to La Barra, a large part of the beach does not have very strong waves, since it acts as a breakwater. When the tide is low, we residents usually swim to La Barra. We can see it in the background in the following photo.
Thus, we can see the beach from another point of view and take a swim in the high seas. In the same way, if the sea is not rough, Can you do it snorkel and spot the species that reside next to this reef. To highlight the old town of the Canary coast.
Beach services
Regarding its services, it has several areas where rent hammocks and umbrellas, spas, showers, lockers, children's park, security and lifeguards. Besides, It is accessible for people with reduced mobility, even for the bathroom. You should know that, after consulting the citizens of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Smoking is prohibited on the entire beach since the end of 2017. Finally, keep in mind that it is open to swimming all year round thanks to the good climate of the island.
How many kilometers is Las Canteras beach?
Las Canteras has 2.250m length. If we talk about the distance of the walk, we can reach almost 4 kilometers from the Auditorium to La Puntilla.
Areas of Las Canteras
✔ Alfredo Kraus Auditorium
Now, we will give you a brief summary of the wonders that you will find throughout whole Las Canteras walk. That is, from the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium to La Puntilla. However, the ideal is that you take a walk from side to side so that you can appreciate all its beauty yourself. We start with the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium. A building dedicated mainly to the dissemination of cultural activities and conferences named after the Canarian tenor.
✔ La Cícer, surfing in Las Canteras
If we start the Paseo de Las Canteras from the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium we find the La Cícer area. Black sand and some stones. Surf and body board area par excellence, as well as suitable for practicing other sports. For this reason, it is usually very frequented by young people. In this area you can receive surfing lessons, there are many schools and courses daily.
✔ Peña La Vieja
If you continue walking, you will find the Peña La Vieja. It is characterized by having an outstanding rock called Peña La Vieja very close to the shore. Normally young people climb it and jump from it towards the sea. Also, as you can see below, the reef here reaches all the way to the shore, so at low tide it is difficult to swim.
Likewise, in this part of the beach there is one of the best artisan ice cream shops on the island: the Peña La Vieja Ice Cream Shop. In addition, it is one of the few places in Gran Canaria where you can have a good tiger nut horchata. Keep in mind that they only sell ice cream to go, that is, they do not have tables. In any case, what better plan than to walk along the Las Canteras promenade taking a frozen or a very cool horchata? Our favorite is green tea and dark chocolate with orange. Yum.
✔ Playa Chica and Muro Marrero
Chica Beach and Marrero Wall They are located right in front of La Barra and the sea here is plate. In addition, a small bay forms in Playa Chica, hence its name, and this is where families settle. Also, as you can see, in this area of Las Canteras Beach the water is spectacularly crystal clear.
✔ Playa Grande, the most touristic area of Las Canteras
Next you will come across Playa Grande, the widest area of Las Canteras beach. Next to this part you will find parks for children in the sand, rental of hammocks and umbrellas and even the possibility of placing nets to play beach tennis or volleyball. This is where you will find the ramps enabled for people with reduced mobility to access the sand and water. As for its sea, it is ideal for swimming, diving and/or snorkel. Hotels and apartments are concentrated in Playa Grande. It is where the city once saw a tree tourist, especially Nordic.
✔ The Puntilla
After passing Playa Grande, we arrive at the fishing area of La Puntilla and, therefore, the end of Las Canteras. From here you can enjoy magical sunsets, as well as photographing the fishermen's boats which we show you in the initial photo of this post. Likewise, if you continue walking towards El Confital beach you will see corners like the one we show you below, known as Los Nidillos.
Kayaking in Las Canteras
One of the activities you can do on the beach is a transparent kayak tour. Do you have more details this article in case you want to try this aquatic activity in the capital.
Best restaurants in Las Canteras
We invite you to take a look at our post on the 10 top restaurants in Las Canteras. There are many restaurants along the entire promenade and some are very “touristy”. Let us help you so that you don't end up eating a paella de guiri.
Hotels in Las Canteras
If you're looking for hotels in Gran Canaria, you should know that stay on this beach during your vacation is a very good option for its wide range of restaurants and things to do. Check out the offer of apartments and hotels in Las Canteras now and choose yours!
We hope you liked our long walk through Las Canteras and enjoy it a lot. Without a doubt, it is one of the best urban beaches in the European Union and cannot be missed on your visit to the island.
Video of Las Canteras beach
Next we leave you with a video that goes through each of the areas that we mentioned above. If you want to see more videos like this, join our YouTube channel.
Gran Canaria podcast: about Las Canteras beach
Did you know that we have a Gran Canaria podcast? In it next episode you can hear us tell you about everything you should miss in Las Canteras. You can subscribe to our podcast and listen to us from Spotify, iTunes and iVoox.
Lastly, if you want discover authentic places to eat and discover the island on your own, you can't miss our Gran Canaria guides! Forget about wasting time organizing your trip and let someone on the island do it for you.
Hello! I am Ruth, Canarian with a traveling soul. With training and experience in the tourism and digital marketing sector. In this blog I tell you all the tips you need to get to know the most authentic side of Gran Canaria on your own. I also share my travel guides to all the places in the world that I am visiting so that you can discover the destinations like a local and save time planning. In addition to traveling, I love gastronomy and sports. I run and hike in the mountains with my “dog-children” (Silver and Plata). In all these adventures my partner accompanies me, Jorge, which you will also see a lot on this blog.
I think all of this is very nice to attract tourism and people who live here. Without a doubt, the only attraction in the city. Without it, Las Palmas is nothing. Few cities can boast of having a beach right in the center. They could talk about the lamentable state it has been in for a long time. The state is deplorable (maintenance, cleaning, surveillance) and all thanks to who is on the throne. But not only that, the city is dirty, streets/asphalt full of patches. Therefore, citizens cannot complain if things get worse. But that's politics. A shame taxes for/why?? When people from abroad come, they get the fiasco that they get in travel agencies or on the internet.
Hello Antonio, we are recording your complaint in case someone from the City Council here feels addressed 🙂 Greetings