La Palma
The island of La Palma is situated in the north west corner of the Canary Island group, outside the coast of Africa. The latitude is about 28 degrees North, that is the same latitude as Cairo or Miami. You can reach the island by charter or regular flights, or by boat from the Spanish mainland via Tenerife.
You can experience a lot of things on this small island they call "Isla Bonita". The sky is one of the darkest that you can find in Europe and the summer nights are long and warm. You can make hiking tours in the mountains and on the volcanoes. There are boat trips to look at the whales and dolphins. Black sand make exotic beaches and the island is a good place for surfing, windsurfing, snorkeling, diving and fishing. You can try your hand at mountain biking or have a look at the island from above, paragliding. There is also horseback riding and cave exploration to do.
Rent a car
The best way to visit La Palma is to rent a car. You can reserve one online and they will bring it to the port or the airport for you. It is not necessary though, there is a bus on the main road, 700 meters from Casa Rosabel, that runs once an hour. We might also be able to arrange for picking you up at the airport or the port.
There are many companies renting cars on la Palma and they seem to be about equal in quality. Here you can book a car if you want.
The flight to La Palma
Check that you do get tickets to Santa Cruz de La Palma (SPC), and not to Las Palmas on Gran Canaria - it has happened! There are regular flights from Madrid direct to La Palma or via Tenerife. If you come by car you have to take the boat from Cadiz and change ship on Tenerife. The easiest and cheapest way to fly to La Palma is a charter flight.
A tip: Your local travel agency can often find cheap flights for you. It is not sure that Internet booking is cheaper. You can also book your car there, it is often cheaper than booking direct via Internet.
One place to book your flight from Holland is:
Iberia has daily flights to La Palma from Madrid. www.iberia.com
If you cannot find a direct flight to La Palma you can take one to Tenerife or Gran Canaria and then continue with a local flight or by boat. Note that especially from Tenerife the flights can be full, do order the tickets as early as possible. Information can be found at:
http://www.bintercanarias.com
https://www.canaryfly.es
Fred Olsen ferry
Armas boats
Tenerife
There are many flights to La Palma (SPC) each day, prices vary with time of day and type of ticket. Note that Tenerife has two airports. Reina Sofia, (Aeropuerto Sur), the south one, is where the charter flights normally land. Los Rodeos, (Aeropuerto Norte), the north one, is the one from where the local flights leave. A taxi between the airports takes about 40 minutes and costs about 75 Euros (Aug 10). You can also go by bus.
On bus timetables # means, that this bus does not run Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. * means that the bus leaves 10 minutes earlier on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.
Most days there are at least one Fred Olsen ferry from Los Christianos to La Palma; its only 20 minutes travel with taxi from Reina Sofia airport to the harbour. The trip to La Palma takes two and a half hours.
Gran CanariaThis island has only one airport and there are some 5 flights a day to La Palma. Do check that there is a return flight in the morning, early enough for your return journey.
- You do not need to bring any special food with you to La Palma, you can find it at our health food store: HierbaBuena in Santa Cruz
- The blog of Sheila Crosby tells you a lot about the island.
- More tourist information
- Weather in Tijarafe 3 km north of Casa Rosabel
- Current weather on the mountain, 2 km above Casa Rosabel