A Day at the Canaribbean In Gran Canaria

If you lived in Gran Canaria, which beach would you choose for a day of doing as little as possible?

Lots of locals would go for one of the remote beaches in the west such as Guayedra, or a quiet bay on the south coast like Pasito Bea. Or they head to Las Canteras beach in the capital Las Palmas for a snorkel along its reef followed by a seafood lunch.

Today we decided that we needed a holiday away from home, a Gran Canaria-style staycation. So, we headed to Gran Canaria’s most tropical spot; Anfi beach on the south west coast. This exotic beach, fringed with tall coconut palms, has calm, azure water, white sand with seashells, and yachts moored offshore. It’s sunny almost every day of the year and is rarelñy windy or wavy.

It’s as close to the Caribbean as you’ll find anywhere in Europe; we call it the Canaribbean.

What to do at Anfi beach

Since we have two small kids that just love swimming, we opted for a day of pure relaxation with our towels right by the water. The kids made a snowman out of sand (hey, it’s almost winter), chased the fish in the clear water, and picked up seashells along the shore.

Anfi beach is perfect for families because it is almost always calm and sunny, has lifeguards all day, and there are snacks on sale just behind the beach. There’s even a Spar supermarket close by that sells ice cream and cold beers all day long. 

Once you sit down on Anfi’s soft white sand, it hard to resist the temptation to stay there for as long as possible.

However, if spending all day just flopping around on the sand is just too decadent for you, there is plenty to do at Anfi.

Walk east along the coast and you can all the way to Arguienguín town via Esmerelda and Patalavaca beaches. There are plenty of places here for a drink and lots of spots to jump into the sea. The natural pool at La Lajilla in Arguineguín itself is ideal.

If a short burst of activity is more your style,  just head to the heart-shaped island next to the beach where you can chill out at a fancy beach club, or dive into deep water straight off the rocks.

Don’t miss the fish hanging out under the little bridge that connects the island to the ‘mainland’. We sure an exotic trumpetfish, sea bass, wrasse and damselfish and some huge, bright-red crabs on the rocks.

Looking for something livelier? There are volleyball nets under the palms, and you can rent everything from a jetski to a pedalo at the rental shack on the beach.

Whatever you do at Anfi beach, hang around until the evening because there’s a market by the marina and the sight of the sun sinking behind the palms is the perfect end to a day in the Canaribbean.

Getting to Anfi beach

Anfi is on the GC 500 coast road that runs through all of Gran Canaria’s resorts so it is easy to get to on the local blue buses. They stop by the roadside and you just walk down the hill through the resort to the sand.

If you drive to Anfi there’s plenty of parking just over the road that costs just three euros for the whole day.

Another fun option is to take the Blue Bird ferry to Anfi from any of the marinas along the south coast. It docks at the island and comes and goes throughout the day. The ferry ride is a great way to see the coast of Gran Canaria from a fresh perspective and you stand a good chance of spotting dolphins, turtles and seabirds too.