Casa Jacaranda 
Walking & Touring on La Palma "La Isla Bonita"
La
Palma s a very beautiful and green Canary island, 85 km
west of Tenerife, free of the mass tourism of islands like Lanzarote, Tenerife and Gran
Canaria. It is a tranquil and friendly island, ideal for touring, for walkers and nature lovers. It is also
a good place to escape bustle, do gentle exploration or just relax and read.
Generally the island is warm in winter, but escapes the extremes of heat in
summer, especially on the eastern side and is considered to have "spring" weather all year round
(yearly daytime average 23 deg.C).
Bananas and other tropical fruit grow in abundance on the island. The
many walking routes on La Palma are very well maintained and way-marked and suit
walkers of all standards. The longest and highest routes are challenging
expeditions in their own right. La Palma has black volcanic sand beaches, some
of which are very wild and beautiful and few of which are ever crowded. Its
coastal and inland scenery and flora are spectacular and the island is host to:
the National Park of the Caldera de Taburiente (the largest Caldera in the
World); UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and the International Astrophysical Laboratory
on the Roque de Los Muchachos, the island's highest point. La Palma is
accessible directly by air travel from London and Manchester, Madrid, German airports or
Schipol,
Holland, by frequent inter-island flights from Tenerife or Gran Canaria and by ferry from Tenerife
(Los Christianos).
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The area outlined in green on the island map
(far left) is shown enlarged on the left. The airport is located just
south of the capital, Santa Cruz. The ferry port is right in the
city. Casa Jacaranda is located in Puntallana 10 - 15 mins drive from Santa Cruz on the main LP1 (20 mins from the airport). There is good access to the main walking routes on the island and to important visitor sites in the north including the Los Tilos Biosphere reserve and the summit of the island at Roque de los Muchachos. Use the map and satellite images below to explore the region around Puntallana further. |
La Palma active map / satellite image
Click and drag the map or use the direction buttons to move around, Use
the + / - buttons to increase or
decrease the scale of the map. Use the map
/ satellite / hybrid buttons to show either the map, the satellite image or both.
The satellite imaging of La Palma is very high resolution - try it! The red markers
highlight some of the key features near
Puntallana village. Click on them for an explanation. Google is gratefully acknowledged
for this feature
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La Palma is an excellent all year round walking destination with daytime temperatures ranging from 20 - 26 degrees and night-time temperatures between 15 and 21 degrees. Showers are more frequent in the winter months ( November to April). Maps are widely available on the island - the Kompass map at 1:50 000 is a good general one or the 8-part 1:25 000 map from the Instituto Geographico Nacional. Two guides are illustrated on the right which are both good for suggesting walks. They are the Rother walking guides ( a series of different ones are available). They are distributed in the UK by Cordee books. Also the Sunflower guide. Conny, who looks after our guests in our absence contributes information regularly about La Palma walks and has on occasion guided our guests to places of special interest in the Caldera and elsewhere.
Many walks can be reached by public transport, but sometimes a car
will be necessary.
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Activities on La Palma
Walking on La Palma
Walking is one of the main objectives of visitors to La Palma. For this reason the maps, guides and waymarking are exceptionally good. Although there is much straightforward rambling, there are paths for serious walkers seeking physical challenges! The visit to the Caldera de Taburiente and the "Ruta de los volcanos" (following the mountainous island backbone) are good examples. Good local walks from Casa Jacaranda include: "Cubo de Galga", Casa del Monte -Marcos y Corderos, Part of the coastal footpath (which contours the whole island!), The Laurel woods of "Los Tilos", The ascent from Puntallana to "El Pilar" and the "Ruta Reale" which contours the north, high above the ocean. But it's easily possible to walk anywhere on the island from our base near Santa Cruz. There is local transport (Autobus "Guaguas" that you can pick up to make longer linear walks possible. Our holiday home caretaker can advise on the best walks for your own level of ability and interests!
Touring (by car or bike)
It's easy to hire a vehicle on the island and we would always recommend this for first-time visitors, even though you can get around by local buses and taxis. The main island roads are excellent, and you can get anywhere on the island and back in a day. The main regions to tour are The south: Canary pine forests, recent lavafields, the volcanos of San Antonio and Tenaguia. The Santa Cruz, Mazo and Brenas areas (Los Concajos beaches, The Belmarco Caves with the islands early history. The North - village of San Andreas and the natural swimming pools of Charco Azul and La Fajana - the steep and rugged far north. The almond growing villages of the north west (Puntagorda, Las Tricias, Garafia). The "Valle" of Los Janos and the tourist beach at Puerto Naos in the West. In the central zone, there is the island's summit (Roque de los Muchachos - reachable by car) and the national park of the Caldera de Taburient - reachable by 4x4 and on foot.
Swimming, sailing fishing, surfing and horseriding
Our guests have enjoyed all these activities - ask our holiday home caretaker for advice and recommendations!
Natural History
The trees and plants in the neighborhood of Casa Jacaranda (Puntallana) are quite special and anyone interested in things botanical will find it fascinating to walk in the wooded areas near our Casa. There are many footpaths, both waymarked and local (i.e. not shown on the official "Red de Senderos" (Footpath network). Serious botanists will want to equip themselves with a flora for identification. Our colleague Conny, who looks after Casa Jacaranda in our absence, is an expert on local walks and the location of shrubs and trees of interest and will offer advice to those with a special interest in this field.
Birds of La Palma Much information can be found at: http://lapalmabirds.blogspot.com/
Left - Canarian balconies in Santa Cruz Right - Los Cancajos tourist area
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| As
the island is so steep, the sea is visible from nearly everywhere on the island
and provides an endless series of vistas and features of interest such as the
saltings (above left) on the southern rip of the island at Punta de Fuencaliente. |
Generally the sea is a very comfortable temperature for swimming. In addition to the natural beaches there are most attractive artificial swimming areas on the island such as the one near Casa Jacaranda at Charco Azul (above right) which is in St. Andreas, north of Puntallana. |
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| The picture above left was taken from La
Cumbrecita near El Paso, again looking in the Caldera and the National Park. A
major route - La Ruta de los Volcans - follows the ridge seen in the picture,
all the way to the South at Fuencaliente. |
There is superb high level walking on La Palma (the island's highest point is reachable by car). The image above right was taken close to the island's summit - Roque de Los Muchachos, looking partly down into the vast Caldera de Taburiente at the core of the island. |
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There is also plenty of walking at lower altitude - following old tracks and trails (picture left). Many of these follow "barrancos" - the long erosion ravines that wind up from the coast. Or they contour the island at different heights, crossing the barrancos to provide excitement, anticipation and always interest and variety. |
