La Palma

La Palma - The beautiful canary island

La Isla Bonita is the most western of the canarian islands. On the initiative of the island government the entire island got declared as world biosphere reserve thus assures the protection of the nature. The island with it's 85 thousand inhabitants has no industry and no mass tourism.

This paradise stretches over about 45 kilometers length and about 27 kilometers width through the atlantic ocean, 420 kilometers in front of the westafrican coast.

The climate of the island is devided into two zones. Therefore the north east is often rainy and wild and has one of the last laurel virgin forests. While in contrast the southwest of the island is quite dry and often windy and with the bizarr vulcanos and barren coastal regions this side of the island reflects the origin of the island.

The capital city of the island Sta. Cruz de La Palma is in the east, with a port, an airport, many museums and cultural offerings. Here are many traces of the natives, the Guanches as well as the biggest museum of the island. Due to the north east trade wind it is often raining at the east cost. At the coast it is very green and tropical. 

The secret capital city of the island is Los Llanos. Situated in the west and meanwhile bigger than Sta. Cruz it has a vast offer inside the cultural and commercial sector. The MAB (Museo Archeológico Benahoarita), a quite new museum in Los Llanos gives an insight into the life of the canarian natives, the Guanches. The natives of La Palma are the Benahoaritas.

The beaches are very important for the guests of La Palma. The sand here is black and the water temperature doesn't go below 18° C even in winter. In Tazacorte there is the longest sand beach of the island where you can swim the whole year long thanks to a protection wall. Restaurants and offers of leisure time activities complete the day in this old fishing village.

Don't worry! You will not get mass tourism on La Palma. Even in the well attended places like Tazacorte and Puerto Naos the number of visitors is manageable. Also there are no big hotels and bars along the beaches.

In many situations you will notice that on La Palma clocks are running kind of slower than in the rest of europe. Therefore don't get impatient if some things take their time.

The most beautiful aspect is that La Palma is very peaceful, so time has no significant role.