Gran Canaria is a wonderful place to visit in the Winter months. Temperatures sit in the mid twenties, the sun is shining and the cost of living is cheap. To feel some of the sun’s ray’s on your skin, to wear shorts in the depths of winter and to paddle out into warm sea’s are all wonderful experiences to savor after a long, dark winter.

I took a week long trip in February with a friend, staying in the capital city, Las Palmas. We hired a car, laden with Surf SUPs and Skateboards at the airport and made the quick twenty minute journey north. 

Las Palmas is a pretty big city and wraps itself around both sides of the headland which makes up the most northern part of the island. We were to stay for the week right on the main beach, Playa de las Canteras, on the western side of the city. We were greeted with huge, booming surf so it was straight into the line up for us. The first spot we surfed was La Cicer, one of the main spots and extremely popular with both highly skilled locals out back and lots of beginners with surf schools in the foam. The waves were big and powerful out back, way overhead, but it was great to tap into the power of the Atlantic Ocean.

Unbeknownst to me, we had arrived at the perfect time in Las Palmas. The final day of the week long Carnival celebrations were to happen that night. Even during the day, there were lots of people in fancy dress and their numbers swelled as evening drew near. The party that ensued was a sight to behold with thousands upon thousands of revelers following hundreds of huge trucks along the main drag in Las Palmas. A procession that took literally hours. Each truck contained a bar, its own DJ and were packed with people wearing incredible fancy dress.

It truly was a sight to behold and an amazing party into the small hours of the next day.

With a hire car, our options were very open to us, we could chase the best swell, whether we wanted the giant, slabby waves of the north, or to search for lesser known spots further south. We were rewarded with some fantastic, empty waves. Tauro in the far south was a particular favourite. It was a small cove alongside some tiny, run down beach shacks. The ocean looked flat most of the time but when the long interval swell rolled in, a waist to chest high wave would rear up over jagged rocks before shooting right and then dumping on the beach. Not a place to fall, the wave was a super clean face, where you could enjoy big carving turns. The key was to not get greedy and kick off the back of the wave before you got slammed against the sand and rocks of the beach…..easier said than done!.

Again in the south, Arguineguin was a brilliant, secretish wave. Scenery wise, it was never going to score many points, with a backdrop of an old concrete factory. However it made up for this with a metronome like wave of quality and a near empty line up. 

We also managed to surf some pretty powerful breaks along its east coast. Being an island, there is always somewhere with the right wind direction, so having a car meant we got rewarded for our research on conditions.

Temperature wise, the water was 21 degrees celsius in February, so a 3/2 was all that was required to be nice and comfortable. Unless you are just planning to surf on Playa De Las Canteras in Las Palmas, most of the island’s surf spots are reefs, so I would highly recommend a pair of wetsuit boots too.

Las Canteras is by far the most popular surf beach on the island, with several breaks along its 2 kilometer length. I had one session at a wave called El Burro, where, I can safely say, I was surfing waves the size of double decker buses. Absolute giants and pretty scary at times. Out back on a day like that is no place for anyone less than expert surfers. It was a huge rush dropping into these beasts. Having said that, there cannot be many places on the planet where the pro’s can be surfing in these World class conditions yet, nearer to shore, absolute beginners can learn to surf in small fun foam piles.

A week of sun, surf, skateboarding, great food and being lucky enough to meet some wonderful people, it just flew by. There is so much more on this magical island to explore and I will be back.