Lanzarote South Tour

Lanzarote has many gems, and beautiful places to visit outside of the main resorts. So jump in the car and get out there! We’ll start you off with a route we take regularly… and certainly one we show to all of our visitors. More tours to follow at a later date.

Drive out of Playa Blanca on the old road, towards Yaiza… and follow the signs for El Golfo. To your left, you will soon see the salt plains. There are a number of places you can safely stop – to give your visitors time to grab those holiday snaps! At the roundabout, turn left, and the road will take you all the way around “las Salinas”.  There is a restaurant overlooking the plains. We’ve not eaten there ourselves, but have heard good reports. And hey, what a view!

At this point, you will also see the black beach at the edge of the cove. Keep following the road around the salinas, and as the road then takes you to the right, you’ll see a car park on your left. Park up, and head down to the beach. Some months ago, people had been making kerns (small piles of rocks) at the right hand side of the beach, by the small hut. For a while, we were all adding one on each visit. Unfortunately however, they disappeared.

Head to the right hand end of the beach, and if you’re lucky, and catch it at low tide… you can clamber over the rocks and go looking in the rock pools. They’re teeming with life. Tiny catfish and shrimplike creatures abound in these pools. It’ll take a few seconds before you spot one – but once you do, you’ll see many more.

Also have a root around in the black sand itself… and you can find tiny green gems. This is the semi-precious olivina that you see forming the basis of so much jewellery in Lanzarote.

Come out of the black beach car park, and turn left…. carry on following the road (whilst being suitably awed by the crashing waves onto the sheer cliffs to your left. Actually… just keep your eye on the road – it’s a twisty turny one, and if you come off the edge of this, it won’t be pretty!.

You’ll come across a sign with “Los Hervideros” on it. Blink and you’ll miss it though! Park up and follow everyone else. You can get into the rocks via twisting, steep paths, and look down to see the waves crashing up through the rocks. Just stunning. Not for people without a head for heights… but soooo worth it. The photo opportunities here are fantastic. Los Hervideros literally means “bubbling pots”, which is what the water coming up through the rocks resembles. Also, look across the road, and at the right time of day the mountain there practically glows red.

Ok. Come out of Los Hervideros, and turn left again. Keep following those signs to El Golfo until the road forces you to veer right, but where you see a jagged overhanging cliff in front of you, and a car park. Turn left off the road (it’s actually straight on) and park up. Walk to the end of the car park, and follow the path round to the right. Keep going to the end of the path and you’ll enter El Golfo’s cove. Make sure you take your camera! This is where the green lagoon is. The rock formations here are simply breathtaking, as is the lagoon at the rear of the cove. You can also take a walk up the steep cliff at the far end of the cove, but we’ll show you an easier way to get up there.

Right… now you’ve done that – you’ll be hungry and thirsty. So you can either hike up the cliff opposite you (not for the faint hearted)… or get back in the car. For us, it’s the car everytime! Turn left out of the car park… and just follow the road all the way round to El Golfo village. Park up – and choose any of the restaurants on the seafront. They are all very very good. There are no menus… just make a choice of meat or fish for however many people. On our first lunch there, we ordered fish for 3 people. Out came a massive piled high platter with loads of fish on it… papas arrugas (Canarian potatoes), mojo sauce, and salad. If you don’t like to see fish with their heads on, on your plate… then don’t order it! For us, it’s all part of the ambience. The fish is always extremely fresh, and you can often see the fishermen on the rocks, making sure that the stocks are kept topped up.

After that, you’ll be all fat and full up… so jump back in the car… take a leisurely drive home, and have a siesta!

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