Here you are our post about the wonderful Tufia beach. This magic place is located in the east part of Gran Canaria, in the municipality of Telde. For us, it is one of the favorites beaches from the area and it is in the top 10 list from the best beaches of Gran Canaria. Why? Because it is located in a very cared environment, its water is crystalline and it has kept the local essence.
In its day, a series of houses were built on the seafront that would be unthinkable today, but even so, this area is very authentic and not at all touristy. Their houses are white with blue and sailor touches. Even, as you can see in the previous photo, there are several cave houses, something very typical of the Canary Islands.
Tufia beach, Site of Scientific Interest
You should know that the beach Tufia is considered Site of Scientific Interest due to its singularity. As you may realize from the pictures, it is a kind of cove. This cove stretches out for some 40 meters, the rest are rocks where you can also lie down and sunbath or even just have a sit and appreciate the landscape. It has some very attractive sea beds for the diving enthusiasts. Tufia is one of the favorite spots for diving in Gran Canaria. This is one of the activities in Gran Canaria that we recommend to do. There are several companies which make immersions in here. And if it is your first time, try a beginners course!
Be informed that the sand beach is black and, when the tide is high there is a few sand to place the towels. However, by the sea front houses there is a kind of sidewalk where you can place yourself or even lie down while the tide starts to get low. If you visit Tufia beach, try to check when is the low tide in order that you will enjoy the most.
You should know that in this site you won’t find any place to buy food and beverage. So that, if your plan is to spend the day here, remember to bring with you something to eat and drink. It is said that there is a house in Tufia which serves drinks to the visitors. We are not sure of that and it wouldn’t be fair to say it, since it is forbidden as they do not have any kind of license. This house is located where you can see the blue umbrellas. We know that this place has been closed by the police as they hadn’t the license.
Anyway, we recommend you to buy a calamari sandwich at Restaurante Dos Hermanos only 5 minutes drive from here.
How to get to Tufia Beach
If you drive from the south or from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, you should always take the exist named El Goro (number 13) and once you are there you should look for a brown sign with the name Tufia. The sign is quite small and not so visible, so try to drive slowly. Once you find the road to Tufia you won’t get lost and you will reach a quite big parking area. On the right side you will find Tufia and on the left side you will find another beach named Aguadulce (which means sweet water in Spanish). The name makes no sense since the sea water isn’t sweet.
Other attractions from the Area: Aguadulce beach
Aguadulce beach is another of the unknown in Gran Canaria and basically also only frequented by locals. Despite of its beauty there are only a few tourists which come here to visit it. At Aguadulce, due to its location, it is more windy than Tufia. However, its sand is more blonde and the beach is much bigger than Tufia as you may check below. Moreover, usually some sea rubbish comes with the sea. On the other hand, Tufia beach is quite sheltered from the wind because of the Morro de Tufia (Tufia Peninsula). Therefore, if it is windy in Gran Canaria and you do not know which beaches are the best, this one could be an option.
Furthermore, you have to know that due to the short distance from Tufia and Aguadulce to the airport, usually the planes could be seen from here. It is a kind of entertainment seeing them from the beach, trying to guess the airline. The noise of the planes is quite slight, so don’t worry about it.
Other beaches that you can visit near Tufia beach are Hoya del Pozo beach, Salinetas, Melenara, Playa del Hombre, etc. Even if you come from the south, we recommend you take the opportunity to spend the afternoon in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, since it is only about 20 minutes away by car. That’s all, we hope that this information is of interest to you and that you can enjoy this beach in Gran Canaria like any other local. And who knows, maybe you’ll get excited about diving…
Archaeological Site of Tufia
The archaeological site of Tufia is made up of a set of caves and housing structures or houses of the ancient Canarians. On Aguadulce beach is the bottom of an old cave dwelling in which an important archaeological sequence was preserved, from which one of the oldest dates on the island of Gran Canaria was obtained.
Video of Tufia and Aguadulce beaches
We have also made a video from both beaches. Have a look and subscribe to our YouTube channel, we have English subtitles in all our videos!
Finally, we invite you to have a look at our Guides to Gran Canaria. We have a Guide to Gran Canaria beaches and pools and also guide to restaurants, complete guide to Gran Canaria, itineraries per day, etc. Have a look to all of them by clicking below!
We are Ruth & Jorge, Gran Canarians with a travelling soul. Experts in tourism and digital marketing. We share the most authentic side of Gran Canaria (where we live) and… our adventures around the world!
