Gran Canaria Tourism Guide - Near Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico & Amadores Gran Canaria

For family holiday resorts on the Canaries and in Gran Canaria you can't beat Puerto Rico for holiday resort facilities. It gets a rather negative press as the least attractive resort on the island, but this all depends on what you're looking for. If it's two calm and safe swimming beaches, lots of beach bars and amenities directly adjacent to the beach (including toilets), a choice of watersports activiites with everything from fishing to catamaran trips to glass bottom boats. It's popular British and Irish resort territory down here, so it has a nice homely feel. If you're looking for a home from home in the Canaries sunshine then Puerto Rico is for you and the family. With its friendly atmosphere, Puerto Rico is tops for families.

Just a short walk along a cliffside pathway (look up during this walk for some sublime kitsch concrete views of hotels built high, high high!) sees you at Playa de Amadores beach. Amadores is an equally attractive family beach, ideal for safe bathing. Hotels also back onto this beach, but one particular edge this beach has over Puerto Rico's beach is the bars and restaurants situated right on the beach - all nicely shaded. For lively family holidays you won't do much better than Puerto Rico and Amadores.

Living upto its reputation as a superb family resort, Puerto Rico offers a choice of family holiday attractions including mini golf, an aqua park, two good sheltered beaches (if you include nearby Amadores) with calm waters very safe for family swimming and connected by a coastal pathway along the cliffs and a choice of apartments and hotels towering up the valley walls. Both Puerto Rico and Amadores' beaches are manmade with imported golden Saharan sand, and nicely sheltered for safe family bathing.

There's plenty of huff and puff from Gran Canaria guide books waxing lyrical about the contrast between highly developed Puerto Rico and pretty Puerto de Mogan. It's a little overdone this! Puerto Rico is one of the oldest resorts on the island, however when you look at it from the sea it's pretty contained and rather small. When you look closely at increasing development - building has stopped in Puerto Rico - it's actually the luxury end aka golf spa resorts that the developers are pushing into. Meanwhile, if you're a family on a tight budget with young children looking for a friendly Gran Canaria resort, Puerto Rico will do just nicely. This Gran Canaria resort attracts many Canarian families too on a tight budget!

Puerto de Mogan & Mogan Gran Canaria

Just up the coast from Puerto Rico, pretty Puerto de Mogan (otherwise known as 'Little Venice') is tiny in comparison and a popular temporary stop for catamaran and boat trips in the area. You can see why, it's a delightful little one time fishing village with a small picturesque beach and tasteful bars and restaurants. Puerto de Mogan is mostly pedestrianised, so makes for pleasant strolling around its narrow streets.

There's ample opportunity to hook into a diving trip, catamaran sailing trip or yacht charter at Puerto de Morgan. Catamaran sailing trips tend to sail towards Puerto de Mogan from Puerto Rico. Numerous catamaran sailing trips are available from Puerto Rico harbour. Both Puerto De Mogan and Puerto Rico are popular bases to hook into diving trips. In fact you'll usually spot a few divers and see the two wrecks on the Yellow Submarine Diving excursion. The wrecks were deliberately sunk by the way for the purpose of the Yellow Submarine tour - however, the wrecks make for fascinating underwater viewing whether on the submarine or on a diving excursion.

Inland from Puerto de Mogan is the very attractive town of Mogan, another key administrative centre covering the southwest area of Gran Canaria. Mogan is a good walking base, with a selection of hiking trails branching out from it. An attractive rural base, Mogan also has a few excellent restaurants. This area is a popular haunt with jeep safaris coming up from Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogan.

Cycling is also becoming and increasingly popular leisure pursuit in this area to the West of Gran Canaria. Off and on-road cycling are easily accessible, and particularly popular cycling routes include in and around Puerto Mogan, Puerto Mogan to Laja de la Mula and Puerto Mogan to Mogan. It's certainly a cycling challenge up the Barranco de Mogan!

Taurito & Playa Taurito Gran Canaria

Taurito and its own beach Playa Taurito resemble a mini Puerto Rico. The same dramatic effect of hotels carved into cliffs is here too, but on a much lesser scale. Taurito and its beach offer an ideal quiet resort base, still within easy reach of the many catamaran, fishing, diving and watersports/fun rides available in nearby Puerto Rico. In fact its location is ideal for accessing Puerto de Mogan too as it sits between these two contrasting resorts, and indeed is a mix of both - quiet, but distinctly a purpose built Gran Canaria resort.

Arguineguin Tourist Information

Arguineguin is the Guanche word for 'quiet water'. Perhaps not quite so quiet these days, Arguineguin still manages to retain its original Canary fishing village charm to some extent, and it's certainly a lot more condensed and quieter here than nearby Puerto Rico.

Patalavaca Gran Canaria

Patalavaca, much like Amadores, Playa de la Verga and Taurito, falls into the category of smaller off-shot from the main resorts - in this case Puerto Rico. It sits conveniently between Puerto Rico and the fishing harbour of Arguineguin, and serves as a quiet Gran Canaria resort base within easy access of the hussle and bustle of Puerto Rico.

Playa del Cura Gran Canaria

Not the best beach in the world, here in Playa del Cura, but the increasing number of apartments and hotels are relatively new and offer high quality swimming pools. Watch your bathing here off Playa del Cura as it does tend to get strong Atlantic currents.

Many visitors will find some high quality yet competitively priced holiday accommodation here, with easy access up to Puerto de Mogan and inland to prime walking territory around Mogan.

Playa del Cura is only 1.5km from Puerto Rico, and looks like a more modern and mini version of its mammoth cousin. More of the same aka many of the suburb resorts around Puerto Rico - it's quiet here in Playa del Cura, ideal as a relaxing base with all resort amenities, a quiet cove beach and a scattering of bars and restaurants. Easy access to Anfi Golf Resort complex too!