Las Palmas de Gran Canaria - General Info
Where is Las Palmas?
Puerto de la Luz, to give its official name, is a busy commercial port located on the NE corner of the island of Gran Canaria. It’s the traditional re-supply port for transatlantic vessels and is one of Spain’s main ports.
Marina Las Palmas (Puerto Deportivo), the only berthing facility for yachts in the port, lies at the southern end of the main harbor. It is administered by the Port Authority. Bookings are not possible. Notification of your arrival is recommended. E-mail marina@palmasport.es.
The yacht marina has evolved over the years from a dirty public inner-city marina to a modern berthing facility with much-improved services, on-site restaurants and shops.
This is the home of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) which departs from Las Palmas for St. Lucia in the Caribbean every November.
Note: The Port Authority of Las Palmas on Gran Canaria has created a temporary anchorage area exclusively for small craft that will be in place for one month from October 25 to November 25, 2024 to cater for an expected high number of boats heading across the Atlantic. See this News item: Temporary Anchorage for Visiting Yachts for more information.
Entrance Notes and Cautions for Las Palmas:
For yachts approaching from the north or northeast, the first land to come into view is La Isleta, the peninsula north of the city, The port of La Luz y Las Palmas lies about two miles south and is protected by the Reina Sofia breakwater (this is the outer breakwater) which is being extended. A green navigation buoy has been stationed 500m south of the breakwater to alert mariners. It is obligatory to pass to the south of this buoy on entering the port.
Once inside the port, the entrance into the marina can be hard to detect and the situation is made more confusing by the entrance being marked by two red flashing lights. One red flashing light located at the eastern end of the northern marina breakwater must be left to starboard, the other at the northern end of the main (southern) marina breakwater must be left to port. Vessels should favor the starboard side of the narrow entrance as the port side is fouled and shallow.
There are often large commercial vessels lying at anchor or manoeuvring to the south and east of the port which help to mark the position of the port, particularly when arriving from the south. Be aware of a small breakwater close to the shore, south of the marina entrance which is well market and lit.
VHF 11 is the marina working channel.
All arriving yachts should go the marina reception berth (long pontoon on the port-hand side as you enter, below the port/marina office) where a port official will meet you and assign a berth. At night tie up alongside the reception pontoon or anchor just north of the marina entrance.
Berthing during October and November is severely restricted due to the ARC. See Docking section for more details.
If planning on anchoring just south of Las Palmas in Salinetas Bay, be aware this is where the WACS communications cable for the island comes ashore and great care should be taken to avoid anchoring over the cable. See this news item for more details.
Cruiser Highlights for Las Palmas:
Excellent provisioning options with boat delivery; all types of tank filling; repair services and boatyard; marina chandlery; interesting island to explore; ferry link to Cadiz on mainland Spain; cheap flights from all over Europe; port 30 mins from airport.
Position:
28°09’N, 15° 25’W.
Last updated: November 2024
Read and Post Related Comments
If you have information for this section, or feedback on businesses used, please let us know at editor@noonsite.com. We also welcome new information about businesses you have used (see Related Businesses).
Next Section: Profile: Clearance
Related to following destinations: Canary Islands, Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Port Navigation
Courtesy Flag Discounts
YachtFlags.com provides high quality courtesy flags that are manufactured in durable Knitted Polyester fabric. Knitted so that the fabric itself does not deteriorate in the constant movement that marine flags are usually exposed to, and polyester so that the flag does not weaken in the strong UV-light usually found in the main sailing areas of the world.
YachtFlags.com offers a discount to Noonsite members.
Use the coupon code NOONSITE_5A2B when checking out to get 10% off today.
Buy Now On YachtFlags.comMain Ports - Canary Islands
Courtesy Flag Discounts
YachtFlags.com provides high quality courtesy flags that are manufactured in durable Knitted Polyester fabric. Knitted so that the fabric itself does not deteriorate in the constant movement that marine flags are usually exposed to, and polyester so that the flag does not weaken in the strong UV-light usually found in the main sailing areas of the world.
YachtFlags.com offers a discount to Noonsite members.
Use the coupon code NOONSITE_5A2B when checking out to get 10% off today.
Buy Now On YachtFlags.com
About LP, I forgot to mention about matriculation tax, we have had an unpleasant customs visit , the guys asked me a lot of questions to know when we flew to the islands, how many time we stayed here and here. They wanted me to write in spanish on an official Agencia Tributaria paper. Their explanations were not very clear about this bloody tax. I asked them: is n’t better to look for drug dealers and so on than create pressure on yacht owners who let gently a lot of euros in their economy with yacht maintenance, restaurants, supermarkets and so on?
So liveaboards, no vat yachts, beware, Mr Sanchez’s bureaucracy is hunting “wealthy” tourists…
As well, we have decided to go to Portugal, considering our 183 days credit will end soon…I do not want to flirt with this spanish disaster considering my 60′ explorer trawler….
Last but not least, they mentionned my MMSI number on the carbon paper….
Hello,
I would like to add an info about the matriculation tax. As mentionned below, I have been desapointed to learn I should not stay more than 183 days in the sunny canarias islands without flirting with a possible disaster: become de facto a spanish resident and … pay the matriculation tax on my boat.
I spoke this morning with a very exquisite lady in the Customs headquarter in Las Palmas. She gave me a different answer than what is explained by X or Y on the pontoons or marinas offices. Two situations must be taken in consideration:
1 you have sold everything in your country, you have no more house or official adress , so you are a real liveaboard. That means you are no more a fiscal resident in your country. More than 183 days in Spain, you are now a resident and must pay if you do not organize in time your status all import tax ( as matriculation tax on yachts)
2 you still pay taxes on your income and you own or rent properties in your country, you still keep an adress where you declare your profits or benefices to your administration. Good news! I f you provide a Certificat de residence fiscal ( sorry in french) to Agencia Tributaria ( aduanas dept) ,you will be authorized to enjoy your yacht in Spain more than 183 days in a year.You must bring it or post it with infos concerning owner(s) and yacht.
Sorry for my broken english, end of the day…
Excellent accueil de Las Palmas Marina, à joindre en approche sur le 11 VHF. Vrai professionnalisme et grande courtoisie des marins, formalités d’accueil sans perte de temps et avec le sourire malgré les masques au bureau du port!
Les tarifs sont plus que compétitifs et la ville offre évidemment de très nombreuses ressources sans oublier la petite plage devant le mouillage d’attente.
M/V Balder VIII
février 2021
Rude staff, expensive, clearly spoiled by ARC.
I paid €29.78 for one night stay for my 25 ft monohull. The staff got offended when I complained the price and suggested me to move to some other place if I don’t like it (after I have told them I had a mechanical problem). The worst marina I have ever seen.
I received exelecent service in the Rolnautic boat yard in Las Palmas. I discovered a leak in the rubber seal on my stern tube 2 days before the start of the ARC + 2018. I went to the boatyard at 9 am. They sent a mechanic to by boat at 11am It was lifted at 2pm and back in the water at 6 that evening. Job Done. The charge was reasonable and I made the start line for the ARC Coulnt praise Rolnautic enough
Conor
Yacht – Porto Salgado
With regards to getting gas bottles filled at the DISA plant (see https://www.noonsite.com/Countries/CanaryIslands/LasPalmasdeGranCanaria/DISA for directions) we’ve had variable success with them this week.
On the first visit they said that they can only fill two cylinders per customer, not three as shown on the Noonsite page. We returned the next day to fill our third cylinder and was told that it was ‘impossible’ as it had the ‘wrong valve’. It had exactly the same valve as the cylinders they’d filled the day before.
Friends on another boat have had a similarly random experience. The excuse that they got was that it wasn’t possible to see the hydraulic test date despite the fact that it was clearly visible and their bottle was 4 years ‘newer’ than the ones that we managed to get filled.
I guess it depends on who picks up the bottles on the day you visit. The RolNautic chandlers are able to fill some bottles, but they’re eye-wateringly expensive.
On approach to the port (1/4/18) we could not get an answer on the radio and when we arrived were told there were no spaces but we could stay overnight on the visitor’s pontoon. This was also the response to some friends and appears to be there first response to most visitors. The following morning we were allocated a mooring and so were our friends. At this point, the service we received was professional and welcoming (thank you, Fernando).
The price for our catamaran (80.42m2) was good in comparison to other marinas on the Islands, 11.67 per day, water and electric very reasonable an worked out on the length of stay.
The berth was well maintained with good access to electricity and water. Laundry is expensive 8 Euros for a 5kg wash.
Alisios sailing was very helpful in getting some bits for us but failed to tell us of the shipping charges which more than doubled the price of our goods making them stupidly expensive. Rolanautic (in the marina complex) were good for most chandlery items and pleasant service.
My cycles were stolen from the pontoon, it seems that bike theft is big business in the marina alone with begging. The marina sent us to the port police in the main port, a long walk. They did follow it up with a visit but it is such a regular occurrence I suspect they-they were just following protocol.
Overall nice place to visit: No does not always mean no, nail everything down and buyer beware.
I was in Las Palmas in January 2017 and the marina had no space for a 10m yacht. I spent 4 days at the waiting pier and was finally asked to leave or go to the anchorage. My repairs were not completed, but my boat was seaworthy, so I left.
Puerto de Las Nieves – albeit small – was much more accommodating, and I could finish everything there.
Fast forward to April 2017 and my visit of the islands is complete, so I was looking for a place where I could leave my boat for 3 months (April, May and June, maybe July). I sent (the marina) many emails with no answers, and many phone calls were not returned. Finally, I decided to just show up.
They told me they would give me a spot for 3 months, but I would have to stay on board, which defeated the purpose. They could not find a spot for a 10m yacht for 3 months during low season in spite of all the free space!
Although the staff is friendly, this port is the most disorganised port I’ve seen. I feel it takes months of advance planning to have a spot there. Or maybe they just don’t care.
Plastimo liferafts can be serviced in Las Palmas check out oceanproducts.es They speak good English and are happy for their work to be watched.
We are on the pontoon next to the reception. For a week now we have been complaining that the showers in the building close by, just east of the CEPSA fuel dock has no hot water. Yesterday, just after midday we got hold of the marina manager who promised the problem had been fixed and that we just had to wait for the boiler to warm up. Still this morning no hot water.
When we once again reported the problem in the marina office the person knew nothing of the mater. It seems as if you can report a problem an infinite number of times but a written notice is soon ignored.
Warning: the statement above that it is difficult to obtain a place in the marina only before the ARC is not true anymore. Even in mid-December, the marina is completely full and yachts are requested to anchor north of the marina to wait for a place. Unfortunately, there is currently no working reservation system, even yachts that report having a reservation are requested to anchor. Communication with the marina is very poor.
None of the telephone numbers that are listed here nor on the marina’s website were picked up although we tried many times over several days. So the only option is to sail here and wait for an unknown amount of time. There seems to be a waiting list, but the marina’s staff does not answer VHF calls regularly, so even finding out one’s place on the waiting list is difficult. Such poor organization took us by surprise for the biggest marina in the Canary Islands.
We asked Alisios Sailing Center if it’s possible to repair our 3 sails (main, Genoa and cutter). They said we have first to bring our sails to them. Before they can not say if it’s possible to do that kind of repairs (very usual repairs in my opinion).
They couldn’t say us a date it will be finished. So we said we will bring our sails one by one so they could start with the repairs on our cutter sail so that we could still do our sailing trip to La Gomera with the remaining sails.
After our trip, we visited the shop (No phone call was made to us that it is repaired). In the shop, they said the sail was repaired and asked us to pay the bill. I looked at our sail and couldn’t really spot out the repairs where repairs were needed in our opinion, so I asked kindly if they can show me the repairs they made.
Unwilling they tried to find the spots. They found some indeed, big patches of repairs, where I didn’t know of any damaged spots. Next time I go to the sailmaker, I ask him to open these patches, to see what’s under these patches.
When I asked if it’s not possible to repair the spots I wanted to get repaired, they answered very annoyed that it’s difficult and they have to open a big seam. And if their sewing machine brokes down, it takes a long time to repair the machine.
I just thought “Yes ok, as a sailmaker you have to open a seam from time to time. And if my sewing machine broke down all the time as a sailmaker, I would buy me a second one and don’t make their problem customers one.”
I just stopped any further repairs on my two other sails. When talking to others on the pontoons, they said they know of others having no good experiences.
In my opinion, they don’t want to fix the problem of the customers, they just look if they can earn some little money on little repairs. Wouldnt have been a problem if they just have honestly said that to me before they start any repairs.
Avoid the boatyard here. Questionable charges will appear on your final bill and they will not release the boat until they are paid. No negotiation and the manager Carlos is quite rude. Charges for labour even during siesta. Others on our pontoon have had similar experiences – I guess they think we are all passing through and won’t see us again anyway. Suggest you try Real Nautico instead. You have been warned.
This comment was posted elsewhere on the site – 26 October 2015:
I can confirm that the DISA plant in Gran Canaria does refill propane bottles/tanks. We have a 6 kg Calor bottle/tank from the UK. They filled it with no adaptor needed. Take the highway from the Muelle Deportivo towards the airport, about 17 km.
Take the Salinetas exit. There is an IKEA Almacen, which is the second IKEA on the way to the airport. Go past that and take a right on the second roundabout, in front of the Mercadora supermarket. The entrance to the DISA plant is on your left. They also filled smaller propane bottles from Croatia with no adaptor required.
First ponton from entrance “T” is Very busy because of swell entering in marina
This charge was for Light Dues. See http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/CanaryIslands?rc=Formalities#Fees for more details. As Light Dues are charged every 30 days, it does make short stays expensive.
Posted on behalf of Direct Yacht Deliveries:
We just got charged €200 (44ft catamaran) by the authorities for stopping off in LasPalmas for 2 nights. This was not the berthing fee. Our other boat visited Tenerife and was not charged.
Marina internet is now via a paid service, approx 10 euro a week, cheaper for longer. Laundry open 24 hours. Oct 2014