Which Canary Island?

[pcatterall]

Our owners group want to move our 10m Neptunian from Valencia to 'the Canaries' We are ok with this and do visit Lanzerote quite often.
Which Island would forumites head to first? any pros and cons?

 

[capnsensible]

Lanzarote! Really it's got the easiest access to ports and harbours nearby not only on Lanza but Graciosa and Fuertaventura too. Plus anchorages.

If you want to move on after a season or two, check out somewhere like San Miguel Marina on Tenerife. Gives access to La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro if you don't mind a bumpy ride.

 

[RupertW]

Our boat spent much longer than we planned in the Canaries (2019-23) thanks to Covid but delighted it did.

We visited quite a few ports but spent time in a few and based ourselves in 3 for a year or more.

Much as we enjoyed Lanzarote I wouldn’t go for there as my first choice.

So my two penny worth for bases accessible to airports:
Lanzarote - Loved our year in Puerto Calero - it’s such a lovely destination you almost feel you don’t want to leave it. A bus or a taxi ride to any town but packed full of bars and restauran but somehow not noisy. Downside is the same as anywhere in Lanzarote which is lack of enough options for dsysail destinations. We almost stayed in Lanzarote a second year basing ourselves in Marina Rubicon because the weather there is sunnier, its buzzy and fun, a walk from a decent town and it’s right by the only lovely anchorage in Lanzarote and is opposite Fuertaventura which is well worth exploring all the way round.

Gran Canaria
Hated Las Palmas marina
Southern shore has the kind of windless calm which we thought we‘d left behind in the Med as is a blessed contrast to the wonderful and vigorous inter island sailing.
Puerto Mogan is a gem and getting a berth there is hard but hitting the motherlode if you do. From there you have the other south coast harbours and anchorages and a very doable day sail across to the south coast of Tenerife.

Tenerife
Santa Cruz was a very good base for us. We fell in love with the city snd it’s many restaurants and chandlers and suppliers of batteries, solar, Lidl, ikea etc and its complete safety as a marina even in strong southerlies. The sailing whether across to southern Gran Canaria or down to Las Galletas on the south coast is downhill to wind and current so fast and surfing on big swell. So getting back at the end of a week or two is near impossible within daylight on many days going straight up the coast motoring or tacking. But easily solved by reaching from south Tenerife on day one to Mogan on Gran Canaria then on day two a motor in the Lee of Gran Canaria then a close reach across.

With the above in mind our final year was in the perfect place (I think) for Canarian sailing which is Las Galletas on south Tenerife which allows a totally calm water sail/motor up the West cost of Tenerife to the fabulous anchorages, or across to Gran Canaria or anchorages and harbours on La Gomera. Las Galletas big problem is it’s open to swell so although we were completely safe for months once I’d rigged anti-chafe cross-stern lines and rubber snubbers with metal spring ones, we sustained minor stern damage and burst stern fenders before I really understood the cats cradle I would need as pontoon boat cleats are far too close to the boats centre line.

 

[davethedog]

To back up what Rupert w said, we were in Puerto mogan for a few years and it is a wonderful place to spend some time.

 

[balder]

Hello,
We spent also several "magnifiques années" in Canary and enjoyed really of the islands and friendly atmosphere with locals, quite different from Spain peninsula.
One major issue is that there is not, more or less,high or low season. That means it is better to book for six months in a marina to obtain a fair price. And honestly, they do not answer very oftenly to emails... so you must be patient and contact and contact again officinas.
Find a berth is not an easy task and prices are beginning to be really unacceptable in many nice marinas where now, water and electricity are metered, also for small boats... Last but not least, ARC obliges many yachts to struggle and two years ago with volcano eruption in La Palma, there was really a lack of berths.
During covid - and after covid - we discovered that Canary islands was a perfect place to be and stay, without necessity to cross the Atlantic to Caribe with hurricanes, mosquitoes, violence in some places, racial problems, sargassum weeds, etc...

 

[RupertW]

Hello,
We spent also several "magnifiques années" in Canary and enjoyed really of the islands and friendly atmosphere with locals, quite different from Spain peninsula.
One major issue is that there is not, more or less,high or low season. That means it is better to book for six months in a marina to obtain a fair price. And honestly, they do not answer very oftenly to emails... so you must be patient and contact and contact again officinas.
Find a berth is not an easy task and prices are beginning to be really unacceptable in many nice marinas where now, water and electricity are metered, also for small boats... Last but not least, ARC obliges many yachts to struggle and two years ago with volcano eruption in La Palma, there was really a lack of berths.
During covid - and after covid - we discovered that Canary islands was a perfect place to be and stay, without necessity to cross the Atlantic to Caribe with hurricanes, mosquitoes, violence in some places, racial problems, sargassum weeds, etc...

I mostly agree with you although I’d have hated to miss out on the Caribbean.

But there is a low and high season in the Canaries. Getting a berth and any work done is far easier from February to August than September to January as there are so many extra boats passing through the islands for the crossing.

 

[Kelpie]

Hello,
We spent also several "magnifiques années" in Canary and enjoyed really of the islands and friendly atmosphere with locals, quite different from Spain peninsula.
One major issue is that there is not, more or less,high or low season. That means it is better to book for six months in a marina to obtain a fair price. And honestly, they do not answer very oftenly to emails... so you must be patient and contact and contact again officinas.
Find a berth is not an easy task and prices are beginning to be really unacceptable in many nice marinas where now, water and electricity are metered, also for small boats... Last but not least, ARC obliges many yachts to struggle and two years ago with volcano eruption in La Palma, there was really a lack of berths.
During covid - and after covid - we discovered that Canary islands was a perfect place to be and stay, without necessity to cross the Atlantic to Caribe with hurricanes, mosquitoes, violence in some places, racial problems, sargassum weeds, etc...

Just to give a different point of view, we were really excited about cruising the Canaries, but it didn't live up to expectations. We found the sailing frustrating- big acceleration zones around the islands, flat calm in between, nasty short seas- and we spent most of the time in marinas, rather than at anchor.
It depends on what you like doing. We did really enjoying staying in Las Palmas over Christmas, thought it was a nice city, quite accessible by bike.

 

[balder]

I agree with RupertW, it is more easy after ARC departure to find a berth and the best plan is certainly Las Palmas if you like the city. For our 18-20m lenght, we paid more or less 450 EUR a month! Try to find this, even in Normandy!!! But end of august, they start to say you, please leave ASAP, we have reservations for ARC in september...
I agree also with Kelpie about anchorages and wind conditions...I did several times Marina Rubicon to Arrecife, always against the swell, current and wind, but I have large wipers on my wheelhouse and an heavy and strong trawler!