Gran Canaria (Spain)

A Grand Time In Gran Canaria


After a rather over-worked summer, and a few of my own personal problems I needed a good long break where I could forget the alarm clock and completely relax. My normal preferred holiday destination is Magaluf/Majorca, but I felt like going somewhere different, and this time not just for a lively holiday, but a more scenic holiday.
All of my friends had been to Gran Canaria before and raved ...
...England to my arrival in Gran Canaria, the weathers hot breeze whispered to me a recent summers history of Gran Canaria all of its own.
Throughout my two week holiday the weather in the day time did not dip below 32c all holiday, and on the night time it was only a slightly cooler temperature of 26c. The breeze we did get was like being under a hairdryer that the Sahara desert happened to bless us with while we were there.

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A Grand Time In Gran Canaria

After a rather over-worked summer, and a few of my own personal problems I needed a good long break where I could forget the alarm clock and completely relax. My normal preferred holiday destination is Magaluf/Majorca, but I felt like going somewhere different, and this time not just for a lively holiday, but a more scenic holiday.
All of my friends had been to Gran Canaria before and raved about it for ages, and when they suggested for me to come along with them this year, for a two week break, it was too good an offer to refuse.
We booked our self-catering holiday with Thomas Cook as a holiday package - flights, holiday and transfers. The total cost of our two week holiday £380 each.

So in the words of Peter Kay (comedian)…..Packed it! Booked it and f*^*ed off!

Now my holiday started on the 2nd of October, and it being October I expected it to be quite warm, but no where near as warm as it actually was. From the first moment I stepped off the plane from England to my arrival in Gran Canaria, the weathers hot breeze whispered to me a recent summers history of Gran Canaria all of its own.
Throughout my two week holiday the weather in the day time did not dip below 32c all holiday, and on the night time it was only a slightly cooler temperature of 26c. The breeze we did get was like being under a hairdryer that the Sahara desert happened to bless us with while we were there.

I stayed at the Barcelona Apartments in the Playa Des Ingles resort of Maspalomas. We went self-catering as we intended to eat out every night.
The first thing I noticed as I gazed around the resort was just how quiet it was, this being the very hot hour of 3pm when I first arrived at our apartments. Being typically English, my first order of my holiday was to make a cup of tea, sit down on my top floor balcony and gaze at the pool and watch all the residents playing games and having fun. Finally, relaxation was upon me, and there was not another place in the world I would rather be at that moment, so blissful in-fact, that moment should have been able to be stored in a gift box, one which I could open again just so I can discover how relaxing it really was once more.
Now, without going into too much of a review on the apartments themselves, I stayed in a two bedroom apartment, both bedrooms had a lot of space, they were double bedrooms. The whole complex was very clean, no cockroaches were to be seen. In the complex we had three large glorious swimming pools, with a snack bar which served very nice fast food by the one pool. The staff were all very friendly and helpful to any queries we might have had, they even took the trouble to post my postcards for me. I even made good friends with some of the ladies who happened to be cleaners there, fantastic bunch of girls who would take any time out of their day to make my stay more comfortable. I was very pleased with our apartments, and would certainly consider staying there again.

Of course, my holiday was all about relaxing, but I did also want to visit the whole Island, and have as much fun as possible too. So we planned our days as best we could, We visited many resorts on the Island which I will tell you about, we also spent many days on the beaches and some of the water parks. Good food was never in short supply In any of the resorts I visited, so keep reading for my recommendations. And if you are like me, and spend your sunny days relaxing, your no doubt geared up for some sort of nightlife, weather it be a quiet drink, watching a show, or being a party animal at some club, there is always plenty to do in Gran Canaria when the sun goes down.

The resort I stayed in - Playa Des Ingles, Maspalomas:-

Although I initially went to Gran Canaria for relaxation, Playa Des Ingles happens to be known as one of the liveliest towns of the island, although the days seem very quiet (maybe the time of year I went?). However the beaches surrounding Playa Des Ingles, Playa de las Burras, Playa del Ingles and Playa de Maspalomas were very busy. All three beaches pose beautiful golden sands and clear blue waters. The beaches were very clean and attractive. And if you fancy a long energetic walk across the dunes that Playa Del Ingles beach has, this is also quite wonderful to see. I should also point out that Playa Del Ingles beach and dunes are considered very gay friendly, and part of it happens to be a nudist beach, if this should in anyway make you feel un-comfortable (I was fine with it), you may be wise to avoid this part.

-The Yumbo Centre-
For shopping, the Yumbo Centre, situated in the centre of Playa De Ingles, has many clothing, retail, and gift outlets for you to browse at your leisure, all of which are very competitively priced, and much lower in cost than what you expect to see here in the UK. For example, I love Versace, and as many of you well know, they are not a cheap brand, I brought a top from 'Macys', a popular fashion shop in the Yumbo Centre, for 180 euros, the same top costs £300 pound in the UK. And yes it is genuine, I do work in the fashion world!
Also in the Yumbo Centre, there are many restaurants, all of which will try and get you to dine with them. They have many restaurants to cater for all food types, Italian, Chinese, Spanish and English, plus many more. All restaurants compete heavily with regards to cost, and not only can you enjoy the great foods they have, it will not hurt your wallet/purse too much.
I personally enjoyed my Chinese meals at Restaurante Chino Slow Boat II. I spent at least three evenings dining at this restaurant, I found the staff, especially Ming (the owner) a pleasure to meet. Most of the time I chose 'menu 2', this comprised of a chicken and sweet corn soup, 2 large spring rolls, sweet and sour chicken balls with egg fried rice, and not only was it very filling and gorgeous, it only cost 5.50 euros! I know a bargain when I see one!
The Yumbo Centre is a very popular shopping centre in the day, and a good place to eat your meals, but also the Yumbo centre holds most of Playa Del Ingles clubbing nightlife on the evening, and plus various shows. This said, the Yumbo centre is very gay friendly, and in fact, a very popular choice for gay people to spend their evenings. Most people would find this uncomfortable, I did not. In fact, some of my most enjoyable nights were spent there, and I am proud to say I have made a few gay friends to whom I miss quite a lot. There are many drag shows, all of which are hilarious, and many families go and watch them on a regular basis. Ricky's Bar, put on a very funny drag show, and entertain people night after night, The show is so popular in-fact, that its is often quite hard to get a seat unless you go early. A very family friendly pub, and great entertainment, fully recommend Ricky's Bar too all!

Playa Del Ingles is also a very active place if you enjoy sports. Weather it be water-skiing, horse riding, badminton, tennis, go-carting, football, other water sports, they are all in near reach of you. However Playa Del Ingles is just one of the towns in the resort of Maspalomas.
Maspalomas has the best well known dunes and beaches (29 beaches altogether) which have been awarded the blue flag from the European Union.
Near Maspalomas, there is an oasis with dense vegetation, and has a small lagoon. It is quieter than Playa del Ingles and more exclusive.
There is also the water park where I visited for the day -Aquasur, with numerous water slides and activities, which cost 20 euros for the whole day, and was great fun.
And there you have it, Playa Del Ingles in a nut shell, a genuinely nice place to stay, but also very much worth visiting the neighbouring resorts to discover their beauty also.

I was really interested in exploring the Island and seeing the other resorts, such as Las Palmas, Puerto Rico, and the mountains that occupy Gran Canaria and their highest mountain point in Pozo De Les Nieves.
To do this I had to hire a car. Canaria Autos were recommended to me, to which I hired a jeep which cost me 60 euros a day, and after haggling a little, I was able to hire it for three days at the cost of 140 euros, not too bad I thought. I found the company very professional, and the jeep to be very trustworthy and more importantly roadworthy.
Now that I had wheels, my first visit, the beautiful town of Las Palmas.

-Las Palmas-

Las Palmas is the capital of Gran Canaria, and is Spain's seventh largest 'city'. It is a very popular area to shop, especially for shoes and Spanish clothing. It also has a beautiful historic centre, La Vegueta, which poses a lot of historic buildings including the home once occupied by Christopher Columbus in which he stayed when in Gran Canaria, a museum which is a cathedral dating from the 15th century and the Canary Museum which houses a collection of remains from the Guanche culture from pre-Columbian times. Also Las Palmas has a casino if you fancy an interesting change, called
Casino de Las Palmas.
The beach promenade of Las Palmas is full of many different types of restaurants, to which again compete heavily to their opposition.
Las Palmas made an interesting day out, and I was able to buy many gifts there, and enjoy some good food. Certainly a recommended venture.

After spending most of the morning and a few hours of the afternoon in Las Palmas, I still felt the need to explore, and the mountains were calling me like Tarzan to the jungle. So back to the jeep, and a steady drive up to the mountains for me.

-The Mountain Journey-

This was the highlight of my holiday, my jeep ride into the mountains took me a total of 4 hours, to which I saw breathtaking views and fantastic landscapes. My Mission- to reach the highest point in the mountains at Pozo De Las Nieves .
However, what I would advise is, if you are hiring a car, either be a very confident and safe driver on the Spanish roads or get a bus tour. The roads up the mountains a very narrow, and to be honest, sometimes a little scary, I had to remember to beep my horn when I was going around a corner to let on coming traffic aware of my presence.
There are many stop points along the mountains for you to take various pictures or just glimpse at various towns that seem miles beneath you. When I say breathtaking views, you really need to be standing up there to fully appreciate what I mean. I loved every moment. The lakes in the mountains, which also have stop points are also a welcoming visit. Maps of the mountains and certain routes you may want to take across them are available at a very cheap price at local tourist information centres, or even your hotel might have them.
It took me three and a half hours to get too Pozo's highest peek, but it was well worth it. So many tourists were taking the walk from the car stop point up to the peek, you certainly do not feel alone, and once I was up there, I was in no rush to get down, I felt like shouting 'I'm the king of the world' out loud, just like Leonardo DiCaprio did in the Titanic movie (ok, I might have done this).
The mountains, known as the 'Cumbre', which translates in English to the word 'summit', poses lots of different landscapes, the more north you go, the land area has luscious green valleys and vegetations, on the south and west sides they can seem more desert like. The largest of the gorges can be found on the south and west sides of the mountains in places such as barrancos of Agaete, Aldea, Mogan and Fataga where the views can be considered as particularly impressive.
A journey up the mountains is something I would highly recommend if you are wanting to take a scenic day out from your holiday if you visit Gran Canaria. Well worth the effort!

-Puerto Rico-

The next day, I decided to visit Puerto Rico, an old fishing town.
This place is also very popular amongst the tourists. There are many shops, bars and nightclubs. There are too beaches nearby, one which is quiet and perfect for sunbathing, the other is mainly for people enjoying all kinds of water sports including diving and water-skiing. One thing I will point out about Puerto Rico is that it is very pedestrian zed , so much so, it is impossible to drive around sometimes, or get anywhere fast anyway. I would not advise this area for young children or the elderly or the less-able, its is very hilly, and sometimes very steep, even a young man like me found it to be a very tiring walk. But if you can mange it, the buildings and homes are lovely to look at, and the shops are definitely well worth a browse. Also I found many Tapas bars in this area, and the Spanish food was adorable.
Also, the yacht harbour they have there is lovely to visit if you would like to see all the boats on show. I often wondered by looking at the various boats and the way their occupants live if I could be a man of the sea myself, to be honest, I am better off still perfecting my driving before doing anything like that, but it is a nice thought nonetheless.
I very much enjoyed my little exploration of the Island, the itself has so much to offer all kinds of people, and the many resorts are all so much different in their own way, and no doubt if I had kept my jeep longer I would have liked to visit many more of the towns.

- Overall Opinion -

It goes without saying just how much I enjoyed my two week holiday in Gran Canaria. Sun Sea and sand was in bags of supply, there was not one thing I could moan about it………ok I saw ONE cockroach which happened to crawl across my foot and I screamed like a little girl all the way down the hill of Puerto Rico, but in these sorts of countries, you have to expect the odd one or two.

There was always plenty to do on the island, and amenities for all. I will certainly be visiting Gran Canaria again. I did not find anything too expensive, apart from some drinks in various nightclubs, but I guess that's to be expected sometimes.
It was a perfect place to relax and have fun with my friends, and have the honour of making new friends.

In fact, me being a single guy, I even met a certain special someone, and although I will not get into too much detail without their knowledge, lets just say, Toney Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, I happened to leave mine in Gran Canaria.

That was my Grand time in Gran Canaria. A holiday destination I would definitely recommend.
Thanks for reading, Dempsey x  

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