Maspalomas Dunes and the ravine that climbs behind

The Maspalomas Dunes are more than 400 hectares of protected sand between Playa del Inglés and the Lighthouse, at the southern tip of Gran Canaria. It is not just a big beach: it is a special nature reserve with four very different parts, the beach, the dune field that the wind moves every day, the brackish Charca lagoon and the palm grove of the Oasis. And behind, half an hour of bends away, another south begins: the Fataga ravine, the Arteara aboriginal necropolis and Tunte, at 890 metres, where the island's Camino de Santiago arrives.

How do you get there from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria?

By car, along the GC-1, the southern motorway. Turismo de Gran Canaria gives 56 km to exit 46, the Avenida Touroperador Tui one, and about five more along that avenue and Avenida Cristóbal Colón to Plaza del Faro. Allow about three quarters of an hour without traffic. For the dunes viewpoint, in Playa del Inglés, leave a few exits earlier.

Without a car it is also easy to get there. Global's guagua 50 leaves from the San Telmo Station and ends at the Maspalomas Lighthouse; on its public-holiday timetable it leaves every hour from 9:05 to 17:05 and returns from the Lighthouse from 10:05 to 18:05. The 30 goes direct from Santa Catalina and the 5 passes through Playa del Inglés. From the Lighthouse, line 18 climbs along the GC-60 to the Degollada de las Yeguas, Arteara, Fataga and Tunte.

Where to park

We haven't found a public car park with published fares next to the Lighthouse: look for a space on the streets around the square and arrive early at weekends. To enter from above, park in Playa del Inglés, near the Hotel Riu Palace viewpoint. In Fataga and Tunte you park at the village entrance. If you are going on the cetacean boat, there is paid parking at Puerto Rico harbour, about €3 for two hours.

Can you walk on the dunes?

Yes, but only on the marked trail and its branches. The Canary Islands Government asks that you not leave it, not feed the animals, not pick plants, not stack stones, take your rubbish with you and not make noise. Entry is free. There are two convenient entrances: the dunes viewpoint, next to the Hotel Riu Palace, from where you see the whole field, and the beach, from the Lighthouse or the Charca. Allow between an hour and a half and three hours, and remember that walking on sand is twice as tiring.

How much time do you need?

One day covers the essentials: the Charca, the Lighthouse, the crossing of the dunes and the beach in the morning, and in the afternoon the Fataga ravine up to Tunte or the dolphin boat from Puerto Rico. With one or two nights you can see the dunes at dawn, when they are empty and cool, and leave a whole day for the interior. From Las Palmas, many people do it as a Sunday outing.

When to go

All year. The south is the driest and sunniest part of the island, and in winter there are mild days for walking on the sand. From October to April is the best time for the dunes and the Camino de Santiago. In summer, the sand burns at midday and the ravine is very hot: move early or at sunset. At weekends and at Christmas there are more people at the Lighthouse and in Playa del Inglés.

What lies behind the beach

The GC-60 climbs from Maspalomas up the Fataga ravine. The first lookout is the Degollada de las Yeguas, with the valley open below. Then come Arteara, with its palm grove and the island's largest aboriginal cemetery, 809 burial mounds that the Cabildo now lists as temporarily closed, and Fataga, a white village among palms in the valley the town council calls the Valley of a Thousand Palms. Higher up is Tunte, capital of the municipality since 1835, with the church of San Bartolomé, one of the two Jacobean churches of Gran Canaria. The first stage of the island's Camino de Santiago, which starts in Maspalomas, climbs on foot as far as there.