Hardly any sand whirled up in the Sahara arrives on La Palma like on the other Canary Islands. Therefore, there are no wide white dream beaches here. Of approximately 185 kilometers of island circumference, there are less than five kilometers of beaches, mostly made of black lava sands that heat up quickly even in winter when the sun is strong. Therefore, bathing shoes are recommended.
Black Sandy Beaches
The not overcrowded beaches and bays of La Palma with their clean sand and their excellent water quality invite you to bath also in winter with water temperatures around 20 degrees.
La Palma's best beaches
There are excellent beaches in Los Cancajos (also suitable for children and awarded the EU Blue Flag), Puerto de Tazacorte (now protected by a wall), Puerto Naos (also awarded the Blue Flag) and Santa Cruz (harbor beach).
South of Puerto Naos is Charco Verde, Playa de Zamora / Playa Chica, and Playa Echentive. The beach Las Monjas, often used for nudist bathing, is currently more accessible due to storm damage. Playa Nueva north of Puerto Naos and Playa Nogales near Puntallana are also popular with the few surfers and surfers on La Palma.
Small bathing bays on La Palma
Smaller bays can be found at the lighthouse of Fuencaliente (Playa del Faro) and at the east coast south of Santa Cruz (Playa Salemera).
On the north coast, the few small bays where you can swim are mostly hard to reach. At the places San Andrés y Sauces (Charco Azúl) and at Barlovento (La Fajana), the natural swimming pools were ripped off from the rocks: caution, with high surf at least the basin La Fajana is washed over.
Be aware of currents when bathing
Close to the west side of La Palma, there is the Canary Current, which can also pull an experienced swimmer out into the open sea. At the main beaches there are lifeboats, but not at the small bays. Since the island immediately drops steeply under water, untrained swimmers and children are to be paid special attention to. On guarded beaches, the red and yellow flag should be observed. On wild beaches, you should not even walk too close to the sea during storms and high surf. Unfortunately, it happens again and again that bathers are caught by undercurrents or particularly large waves and drown.
It is well known that the Canary Island La Palma is not the first destination for a bathing holiday. Someone who wants to spend their holiday mainly with swimming and lying on the beach is better off on the other Canary Islands with wide white sandy beaches such as Lanzarote, Gran Canaria or Fuerteventura. Nevertheless, the bathing pleasure on La Palma is not to be neglected. The few small black sandy beaches and bays on La Palma have a special charm and are mostly not overcrowded.
