February 14, 2007
Hey everyone!
Just finished my 7 months stay as an aupair in sunny Gran Canaria, Spain. Just thought I'd share some of my info about the island with all of you. enjoy!
Beaches to check out:
(note: the beach wear in gran canaria is a little differet then some other countries. the women wear as little as just a thong, and the men wear speedos. feel free to wear more if you would like or less if you head to the nude beach section in playa del ingles.)
*playa amadores(puerto rico): beautiful white sand, clear blue water, palm trees, many restaurants and shops along the beach.
*playa del ingles(playa del ingles): Huge beach attached to the famous dunes, fronts 3 cities(playa del ingles, maspalomas, and meloneras). Good waves, great place for watersports, lots of shops and restaurants along the first part of the beach.
*playa las canteras(las palmas): Great beach for scuba diving, next to a great walkway with many restaurants, beach volleball tournaments daily, musical entertainment.
*playa patalavaca(arguineguin): Natural sand, nice waves, good spot for bodyboarding, mostly locals.
*playa anfi(arguineguin):beautiful white sand, clear blue water, palm trees, a few good restaurants a shops, entertainment every evening, variety of watersports, beach volleyball, little island attached for walking. gets a little crowded.
Activities:
*Tandem skydiving: get a great view of playa del ingles/maspalomas as you fly high into the sky. Land your jump in the famous dunes of maspalomas.
*sand boarding: same idea as snowboarding but in the sandy dunes of maspalomas.
*seadoo: take a ride in the beautiful waters in the south of the island.
*surfing: many beaches with great waves for surfing...mostly in the north of the island.
*bungy jumping: jump off a bridge in galdar for only 15 euros!
*camel riding: ride on the back of a camel through the dunes of maspalomas.
*sunbathing: almost every beach is equipped with sunbeds and sombrillas for rent at cheap cost. its beach day all year round in sunny gran canaria!
*aqualand: water park in maspalomas. lots of activities for all ages...wave pool, tanning area, swimming pool, round lagoon with mats, kids water playground, swirley slides, fast slides, race slides, mat slides, lots of concessions, lockers, tank of sealions (learn to do tricks with them and get your picture taken).
Nightlife:
Yumbo centre (maspalomas): europes gay capital. mostly bars with drag queens, lots of restaurants, lots of shops, fun for the whole family, just be careful which bar/shop you enter.
*kazba (playa del ingles): BEST nightlife on the island. All locals and tourists from all over the island come here at night. Many restaurants, pubs, karaoke bars, and after hours clubs. it's huge! not likely to be able to check out all the nightlife in this centre in just one night. every kind of music, age group, dance, karaoke, nationaliy, drinks you can imagine. drinks can range from 1 euro for a tequila shot to 15 euros for a drink. depends which bars you go to. bars are open til 3-4 am and afterhours clubs are open til 7 am.
*shopping centre (puerto rico): lots of shops and restaurants. many bars and a couple after hours clubs. lots of irish bars! youll also find karaoke and lots of dancing! many english and irish tourists here. not many locals.
festivals:
*carnaval: celebration of the body! the whole month of february. everycity has their own carnaval which lasts a week. throughout the week you will see drag queen elections, child queen election, old queen election, and the carnaval queen election. all of which are great shows..especially the drag queen show! the gay community of gran canaria is extremely creative! the costumes are incredible, the music is fantastic and the dance routines/acrobatics will shock you! the humour is also fantastic. There is also live music in the evenings and booths with typical canarian food. also, rides for the kids are up all week. on the weekend is the big party! huge parade..everyone dresses up in costumes, the queens are decked out in costumes made of jewelery!!!, huge trucks are set up with music and dancers in costumes, the whole crowd follows along and becomes part of the parade. at the end of the parade there's a huge party..lots of music, dancing, drinking, eating, just a big costume party!!! best parties are in las palmas and maspalomas. if you're looking for something a lil smaller and with lots of locals try arguineguin.
*festival de san juan: big water festival. lots of music and typical canarian food, rides set up for the kids, everyone drinks, someppl whear costumes, a band plays through all the streets of the city, huge water fight party through the whole city ending at the beach.
there are many other festivals throughout the whole year, in the summer time especially. those are just my 2 favorites! theres lots more to do wit the culture, the food, the music, more waterfights,GAY PRIDE!, gran canaria is a party island with fiestas and great nightlife all year round!!! :D
The island is not very big...takes about an hour max to get from one end to the other. buses are cheap and take you all over the island..anywhere from 1-6 euros. taxis arent too bad either, especially if you're splitting between a few ppl!
Okay, so theres a LOT more i could add , but this is the jist of it and Im running out of time here. send me a msg if you have any questions!
Just finished my 7 months stay as an aupair in sunny Gran Canaria, Spain. Just thought I'd share some of my info about the island with all of you. enjoy!
Beaches to check out:
(note: the beach wear in gran canaria is a little differet then some other countries. the women wear as little as just a thong, and the men wear speedos. feel free to wear more if you would like or less if you head to the nude beach section in playa del ingles.)
*playa amadores(puerto rico): beautiful white sand, clear blue water, palm trees, many restaurants and shops along the beach.
*playa del ingles(playa del ingles): Huge beach attached to the famous dunes, fronts 3 cities(playa del ingles, maspalomas, and meloneras). Good waves, great place for watersports, lots of shops and restaurants along the first part of the beach.
*playa las canteras(las palmas): Great beach for scuba diving, next to a great walkway with many restaurants, beach volleball tournaments daily, musical entertainment.
*playa patalavaca(arguineguin): Natural sand, nice waves, good spot for bodyboarding, mostly locals.
*playa anfi(arguineguin):beautiful white sand, clear blue water, palm trees, a few good restaurants a shops, entertainment every evening, variety of watersports, beach volleyball, little island attached for walking. gets a little crowded.
Activities:
*Tandem skydiving: get a great view of playa del ingles/maspalomas as you fly high into the sky. Land your jump in the famous dunes of maspalomas.
*sand boarding: same idea as snowboarding but in the sandy dunes of maspalomas.
*seadoo: take a ride in the beautiful waters in the south of the island.
*surfing: many beaches with great waves for surfing...mostly in the north of the island.
*bungy jumping: jump off a bridge in galdar for only 15 euros!
*camel riding: ride on the back of a camel through the dunes of maspalomas.
*sunbathing: almost every beach is equipped with sunbeds and sombrillas for rent at cheap cost. its beach day all year round in sunny gran canaria!
*aqualand: water park in maspalomas. lots of activities for all ages...wave pool, tanning area, swimming pool, round lagoon with mats, kids water playground, swirley slides, fast slides, race slides, mat slides, lots of concessions, lockers, tank of sealions (learn to do tricks with them and get your picture taken).
Nightlife:
Yumbo centre (maspalomas): europes gay capital. mostly bars with drag queens, lots of restaurants, lots of shops, fun for the whole family, just be careful which bar/shop you enter.
*kazba (playa del ingles): BEST nightlife on the island. All locals and tourists from all over the island come here at night. Many restaurants, pubs, karaoke bars, and after hours clubs. it's huge! not likely to be able to check out all the nightlife in this centre in just one night. every kind of music, age group, dance, karaoke, nationaliy, drinks you can imagine. drinks can range from 1 euro for a tequila shot to 15 euros for a drink. depends which bars you go to. bars are open til 3-4 am and afterhours clubs are open til 7 am.
*shopping centre (puerto rico): lots of shops and restaurants. many bars and a couple after hours clubs. lots of irish bars! youll also find karaoke and lots of dancing! many english and irish tourists here. not many locals.
festivals:
*carnaval: celebration of the body! the whole month of february. everycity has their own carnaval which lasts a week. throughout the week you will see drag queen elections, child queen election, old queen election, and the carnaval queen election. all of which are great shows..especially the drag queen show! the gay community of gran canaria is extremely creative! the costumes are incredible, the music is fantastic and the dance routines/acrobatics will shock you! the humour is also fantastic. There is also live music in the evenings and booths with typical canarian food. also, rides for the kids are up all week. on the weekend is the big party! huge parade..everyone dresses up in costumes, the queens are decked out in costumes made of jewelery!!!, huge trucks are set up with music and dancers in costumes, the whole crowd follows along and becomes part of the parade. at the end of the parade there's a huge party..lots of music, dancing, drinking, eating, just a big costume party!!! best parties are in las palmas and maspalomas. if you're looking for something a lil smaller and with lots of locals try arguineguin.
*festival de san juan: big water festival. lots of music and typical canarian food, rides set up for the kids, everyone drinks, someppl whear costumes, a band plays through all the streets of the city, huge water fight party through the whole city ending at the beach.
there are many other festivals throughout the whole year, in the summer time especially. those are just my 2 favorites! theres lots more to do wit the culture, the food, the music, more waterfights,GAY PRIDE!, gran canaria is a party island with fiestas and great nightlife all year round!!! :D
The island is not very big...takes about an hour max to get from one end to the other. buses are cheap and take you all over the island..anywhere from 1-6 euros. taxis arent too bad either, especially if you're splitting between a few ppl!
Okay, so theres a LOT more i could add , but this is the jist of it and Im running out of time here. send me a msg if you have any questions!
las palmas carnaval queen!
camel riding in the dunes!
playing around at playa del ingles!
sunset in gran canaria!
the famous dunes of maspalomas!
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