When you get to Gran Canaria, there are plenty of boat trips you can do. If you’re staying in Playa del Inglés, there is no harbour there so you will need to get to Puerto Rico or book a trip which includes a transfer.
Apart from fishing trips and parascending, there are several boat cruises you can choose from, which depart from Puerto Rico.
Some of the boats (such as the SuperCat and the Timanfaya) are huge and take hundreds of people out at once. Others (such as the Sagittarius Star, Liberty or Tauro Cruises) are smaller and take around 20 people out at a time.
The average price for a day’s boat cruise is 45 euros per person, and is often half price for kids. This will include food, drinks (soft drinks, sangria, beer and sometimes local spirits) and games. Some of the cruise boats include jetskiing, parascending or banana boat trips for free or for a discounted price.
If you prefer a half day trip, you could do a dolphin spotting trip. The dolphins are not guaranteed so make sure the dolphin boat you choose (there are several) offers another free trip if they don’t find them the first time. This trip is two and a half hours and 24 euros (half price for kids).
If you have kids and want something short (in case of boredom or seasickness!) you could try the Crystal’s hour trip. The Crystal is a glass-bottom submarine style boat, with an air-conditioned area from where you can watch the fish. It’s a good trip for smaller kids because it’s short and the fish are guaranteed. It is 14 euros for adults and 7 euros for kids (free for kids under 5). Or you could try the Big Red, which is a speedboat – not for the fainthearted!
If you fancy some fishing instead, remember that summertime (April until September) is the season for big game, such as blue and white marlin and the rest of the year tends to be a combination of trolling and bottom fishing. You can still catch some good stuff with the bottom fishing, as Dan found out when he went on the Barakuda Dos fishing boat for a day last week!
In case you’re wondering, that stingray weighted an impressive 300lbs (and yes he put it back).
The biggest cruise boat ever to dock at Las Palmas in Gran Canaria was the Queen Mary, which holds 2620 passengers and 1253 crew!!