This quiet resort in Gran Canaria is the ideal place to hide away and get some peace, whilst still being within easy reach of popular Puerto Rico, with its lively nightlife and busy streets. The resort is built on the flat land by the sea and also partway up the cliffs leading to the mountain behind it, so it’s a sheltered place to swim and sunbathe.
Beaches in the resort are rocky and pebbly rather than sandy, but there are plenty of options nearby, including the popular beach at Amadores. Local amenities like bars, supermarkets and restaurants are perfectly sufficient for all your holiday needs, but for a bit more choice you might want to head out to a different part of the island. Buses and taxis are easy to catch to neighbouring resorts, with Puerto Rico roughly half an hour away on foot.
Because it’s so close to Puerto Rico, there’s a lot to do, and you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to days out. Palmitos Park is a wildlife wonderland, with trees, plants, flowers, birds and fish. It has the largest orchid house in the Canaries, which is a beautiful place to get lost.
A trip out to traditional Arucas is a delicious treat. Not only is it a lovely stone town located underneath a volcano, but it’s also the place where sugar and rum are made, and you can actually watch the sugar cane become rum.
Corralillos Crocodile Park is a photo opportunity as well as a fascinating place to learn about its 300 or so crocodiles from different parts of the world. The crocodiles live next door to the monkeys, tigers, camels and other animals in the zoo, so you can have a full day out visiting both sets of wildlife as well as watching performing parrots. Kids will also love Sioux City, a Wild West theme park originally built as a film set. For something more historical, the Museo Canario delves into the origins of the earliest known inhabitants of Gran Canaria, complete with mummies and Cro-Magnon skulls.
The Ponce Carnival is a huge festival for Puerto Rico, the local version of a Mardi Gras. People travel from miles around, including international tourists, to see the live music, masked parades, drag queens and the ‘Burial of the Sardine’ which is a pretend funeral procession just for fun. It’s a very old festival, dating back to the 1700s, and one of the most memorable things you’ll see on your holidays if you decide to visit the week before Ash Wednesday.
If you prefer something a little less bizarre, the Saborea food festival in April is a gathering of local celebrity chefs and international food stars, for a fun and competitive event that promises lots of tasty treats.
The Heineken Jazz Festival in early summer is great for music lovers, and for active older children, the annual kiteboarding camp can introduce them to this new sport through June and July.