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0871 423-5051
Only £25 deposit per booking
La Palma and El Hierro are the mos recently formed volcanic islands in the Canary Islands archipelago. La Palma also lays claim to being the highest island in the world, with heights in the Caldera de Taburiente reaching upto more than 2000 metres. The highest point is Roque de Los Muchachos which climbs a mammoth 2426m. The oldest ridge on La Palma is the Cumbre Nueva.
You can walk the Volcano route - Cumbre Vieja on La Palma. It takes about 7 hours and moves past seven volcanoes along the central backbone, then down to Los Canarios - Fuencaliente in south La Palma. It's a demanding trail indeed, but paths are well marked and it's easy to dip in and out of chunks of trails, particularly from the central hub - the San Antonio visitor centre. Check the La Palma Tourist Information weblinks right for more details on La Palma volcano walking trails.
Of all the Canary Islands La Palma is the most volcanically active! It's in the Ajuvenile state of volcanic development. Lanzarote is often mistaken for the most volcanic of the Canary Islands, but the eruptive activity in the Cumbre Vieja to the south of La Palma far exceeds that of Timanfaya on Lanzarote. The volcanic history of Tenerife too has been much less intense than La Palma, and historic eruptions on Tenerife have not generally seen lava flow reaching the sea, as on La Palma. Tenerife is now entering what is called the juvenile state of volcanic development and moving into eruptive quiescence which has been the dormant state of La Gomera for a long time!
Across all the Canaries in the last 500 years volcanic eruptive activity has been mostly localised in La Palma, and specifically the Cumbre Vieja. The 1677 eruption of San Antonio was moderate in the scheme of things, but it gave rise to the lapilli cone situated to the north of San Antonio, as well as a selection of eruptive vents to the south. The lava flow reached the sea and buried the Fuente Santa (Holy Spring) on 25 and 26 November 1677. The lava flow today is covered with banana plantations.
More recently it's the Teneguia Volcano to the far south of La Palma that's been particularly active. It last erupted as recently as 1971. The eruption was not explosive and posed little danger to local residents. All volcanic activity in the Fuencaliente area of La Palma is closely monitored by the Spanish Research Council (see weblink right, currently being translated into English). They also produce highly informative pamphlets on the volcanic history of the Fuencaliente Volcanoes - available in the Visitor Centre adjacent to Volcan San Antonio (Tel: 922 44 4616. Open 9am to 8pm June to September and 9am to 6pm from October to May).
The walk around the rim of the San Antonio volcano is a highlight of the area and takes around 20 minutes. This cone last blew in 1949, and today it's looking relatively sedate with Canary pines establishing themselves precariously on the slopes and the base. Volcanic trails branch out from the visitor centre here to Volcan Teneguia and elsewhere, and trails are excellently well marked - good news for walkers.
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