TRIP 3: THE SOUTH

MASPALOMAS – PUERTO RICO – PUERTO MOGÁN – MOGÁN –  LA ALDEA DE SAN NICOLAS - MASPALOMAS

From Maspalomas, driving by the coast, we will cross the marine village of Arguineguín. A Pre-Hispanic hamlet of about 400 houses were located in this area, in the neighbourhood "El Pajar". After Arguineguín and its fishing port with 360 m of shelter line, you will find Patalavaca, which makes a bend with the ravine of La Verga. At this point, cliffs and small and beautiful coves are surrounded by hotels and apartments. Afterwards, you will find Puerto Rico, a important resort area which has been pioneer in nautical sport offer. It has a marina for yachts.  This is a wonderful place for sport fishing lovers, as it has been granted several world records in deep-sea fishing. Among the attractions offered, its man-made beach stands out, granted the Blue Flag. Furthermore, there is a waterpark in the top of the ravine, as well as gardens next to the beach and several shopping centres. The port facilities are very complete, with about 600 berths and one esplanade as parking place.

Taking the road again, the route continues to the port of Mogán, a wonderful marine village next to the traditional fishers' houses, with a modern fishing and sport harbour and top-quality hotels. We have just left behind the ravines of Tauro and Taurito. The port of Mogán is also called the "The Venice of the Atlantic Ocean. This is an exemplary urbanization which combines a small number of resorts with the fishers' houses. It is very funny to see the combination of luxurious boats with small fishing boats. Next to the port, there is also an artificial beach. Furthermore, there is a submarine which carries out trips so that visitors can admire the sea bottom.

From this point on, you can choose to head for the southwest, to the municipality of La Aldea de San Nicolás. The village of Mogán is located 12 from the said municipality. You will get to Mogán driving along a long ravine with avocado, mango, orange and papaya plantations. In this village, you can also visit its church, built in 1814 a equipped with a beautiful coffered ceiling made of carved wood, as well as the image of the patron saint, San Antonio. By walking along its streets, you will contamplate traditional archicture houses, such as the parish "curato" with its typical balconies.

The road to La Aldea crosses the heads of the ravines of Tasartico, Tasarte and Veneguera and goes by the foot of the pine forest Pinar de Inagua.

This southwestern coast has the biggest cliffs of Gran Canaria. There are just a few beaches, most of them with stones and located at the mouth of the ravines.

The ravine of La Aldea, along with the ravine of Tocodoman, makes a wide valley with smooth slopes where the farms are and a great part of the local people live. We will finish this route after visiting the chapel of San Nicolás (it is worthy of a visit due to its age, since it was one of the first chapels in the island). We will also visit "Cactu Aldea" -a garden with about 14 hectares and two million prickly plants- and the beach, 5 km away. By this beach, there is a very famous lagoon in which bathing is allowed just one day a year to celebrate the local fiesta "Fiesta del Charco" (the puddle fiesta). This festivity has been inherited from the aboriginal costum of fishing in the coastal puddles. To came back to Maspalomas, you can either take the same road or go on to Agaete and take the motorway in the north and head for the south

If you were very tired, we would recommend to come back by the same road, althoug the road from Agaete to Maspalomas is faster. However, the stretch between La Aldea de San Nicolás - Agaete goes by crags and the huge cliffs of Andén Verde and, when late in the day, driving along this road may be worrying for the driver. Despite this fact, this drive is extremely beautiful.