View of Playa de Santiago from the harbor, looking east.
Are you longing for warm, sunny beaches and bright, colorful scenery? Then the Canary Islands are the place to be in January/February, when most of Europe is enveloped in darkness and drizzle. While the availability and quality of rental kayaks are limited (at least on La Gomera and Tenerife), the perfect weather and gorgeous views make sit-on-top kayaks bearable. Read on for more colorful shots!
A bit of background/updates...
​Hello paddling friends! Changes are underway in the Naked Kayaker's non-paddling life, which partly explains the lack of presence here on the interwebs the last few months. I'm moving again! This time back to the Netherlands, to Rotterdam. More about that in a future post (teaser: there's a sea kayaking club!!). In the meantime, stay tuned over the next couple weeks for posts from some gorgeous paddling trips in Vancouver, California, and New York last fall.
So what's this about the Canary Islands? Marika had a couple weeks off from residency in January, and flew across the ocean from Rochester, New York, to visit me in Belgium. We were both longing for some vitamin D, and decided to copy a trip that Henk and his friend did one year ago. We packed our little Ryanair-approved carry-ons and hopped on a cheap flight to Tenerife. There, we caught a 1-hour ferry to La Gomera, a much less touristy island that's also small enough to circumnavigate on foot in one week. Our route, which relied on availability of cheap (but awesome) Airbnbs, was a combination of walking and buses. If you want to know more about our walks, check out the photos below and feel free to contact me! Many wild fruits were eaten...
So what's this about the Canary Islands? Marika had a couple weeks off from residency in January, and flew across the ocean from Rochester, New York, to visit me in Belgium. We were both longing for some vitamin D, and decided to copy a trip that Henk and his friend did one year ago. We packed our little Ryanair-approved carry-ons and hopped on a cheap flight to Tenerife. There, we caught a 1-hour ferry to La Gomera, a much less touristy island that's also small enough to circumnavigate on foot in one week. Our route, which relied on availability of cheap (but awesome) Airbnbs, was a combination of walking and buses. If you want to know more about our walks, check out the photos below and feel free to contact me! Many wild fruits were eaten...
Approaching the town of Playa de Santiago from above, on the trail.
What about the paddling?!
Limited by kayak availability, we were only able to squeeze in one day of paddling on La Gomera, on the south (sunnier) side of the island in Playa de Santiago. We met up with Brian from Splash Gomera (a small watersports outfitter) at the gear storage location nestled inside Hotel Jardin Tecina. This appeared to be the only kayak outfitter available on La Gomera (with an online presence), so we accepted the sit-on-tops they had to offer. Brian, the business owner, was very friendly and helpful. The rental included a boat, paddle, PFD, and a dry bag. At Marika's request he even let us borrow a free snorkel!
The boat launch at the harbor, and our two lovely sit-on-top barges.
Marika with the paddle gear and her stopwatch.
Brian drove us with our gear to the harbor, where the kayaks are stored. We slathered on a thick layer of sunscreen and paddled away. Sit-on-tops can feel like paddling a giant sail in the wind, so we first tested our ability to paddle into the strong west wind. Managing to cover some distance, we turned around and headed east. Earlier that morning we had caught a ride with a local goat farmer and asked (in broken Spanish) what his thoughts were about Playa Santiago. He recommended Playa del Medio as a destination, but also mentioned the word "nudistas." We headed towards that beach, fully expecting to meet crowds of nude Germans (a common sighting on the island).
This is the only photo I'll post from Playa del Medio since it's mostly a nude beach... There's Marika snorkeling, not nude!
Playa del Medio was pleasantly empty, with only a few nude Germans. It was a pretty steep cobble beach, so we approached the west corner and swiftly landed our boats. Marika went for a snorkel while I watched for sharks and avoided eye contact with the nudists.
Paddling selfie with Playa del Medio in the background.
Mandatory foot-on-kayak picture.
Playa de Santiago from the ocean.
There were a couple caves in the headlands that looked enticing, but we chose not to enter them since the waves were breaking inside and there was no one nearby to rescue us if things went wrong... We paddled into the wind back towards Playa de Santiago, making good time. With 10 minutes to spare before meeting Brian, we bobbed in the waves and enjoyed the warm sun and breeze.
The most enthusiastic kayaker!
Black and red crabs on the harbor breakwater, skittering away from the photo.
Since we only had the afternoon to spend, it was a short but enjoyable paddle! We spent the night in the affordable and convenient Pension La Gaviota before making our way to Los Cristianos the next day. Scroll past the map to see some of my favorite photos from the rest of our trip!
Date: Monday, February 6th, 2017
Distance: 7 km (4.3 miles)
Duration: 2 hours
Weather: Sunny, warm, breezy
Date: Monday, February 6th, 2017
Distance: 7 km (4.3 miles)
Duration: 2 hours
Weather: Sunny, warm, breezy
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