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Los Molinos

Over on the west coast you will find the small coastal hamlet of Puertito de los Molinos, usually known just as Los Molinos, or sometimes as El Puertito, consisting of just a few simple homes and a couple of restaurants.

The first thing that greets you is the almost dry riverbed, with several ducks taking advantage of the little water that is usually left there. You can drive across the riverbed on a small path to get to a car park.

Whilst the beach is surrounded by tall cliffs, being on the west coast, they do not give much shelter. The beach itself is made up of smooth stones for most of the year; however, at low tide in the summer months a sandy beach at the waters edge is revealed. It is at this time that the sea is calmer and generally safe to swim in, however, care must be taken when swimming as there are strong swells and under currents from the North Atlantic Ocean.

But there is also another hidden gem and round to the left of the beach there are two caves that are only accessible at extremely low tide. September, which the moon is at a full phase and the tide is at its lowest, you can reach these, often still having to wade; but don’t linger there too long otherwise you may not be able to get back when the tide quickly comes back in!

Wading and swimming to the caves of Los Molinos

We went in September 2018, but the tide was not low enough. Although one chap waded across to them. Everybody was watching with baited breath, as the current was strong and the rocks sharp and jagged. At one point he disappeared from view, having to swim a deep section. But he made it safely.

A word of warning – there is not usually any reception for mobile phones here!

La Pared

Situated on the west coast south of Pajara, you’ll find the small quiet town of La Pared. Apart from a hotel, there are a few apartments, quite a few villas, a supermarket, a restaurant, a bar and a couple of small shops.

La Pared literally means The Wall, and the town was named after the wall that ran from the west coast to the east, separating the two kingdoms, Maxorata (North) and Jandia (South). If you search hard you might even find small sections of the remaining wall!

The main part of the town was built in 1966, when there were great plans for a thriving holiday resort. Unfortunately, those plans did not come to fruit, and the shops meant to line the dual carriageway never materialised.

There are two main beaches; Playa La Pared is the northern most beach, small, with protruding rocks leading down to a dark, gold sand. Just north of that is yet another very small beach and between the two is a flat cliff created from lava flow. This is easily scale-able on foot, and at the top you are rewarded with fabulous views, as well as the cheeky resident Barbary Ground Squirrels.

Playa del Viejo Rey (Old Kings Beach) is the most southern and larger of the two beaches, and is situated within the Natural Park of Jandia. Here you’ll find a beautiful sandy beach to sunbathe on! However, being on the west coast the sea tends to be rough and with undercurrents means, so while it’s great for paddling it is not good for swimming.

Another lava flow jutting out into the sea separates the two beaches. This one is much wider, and you are able to drive your car to the top, where you’ll find a car park.

Above Playa La Pared sits the Bahia La Pared restaurant, which is well worth a visit!

The strong winds and surf mean that La Pared is a haven for wind surfers, and you’ll find some excellent schools there, should you wish to learn.

Being on the west coast you’ll also get some beautiful sunsets!

Just outside the main, more modern, part of the town, lies the cheese factory, Ganaderia La Pared SL. Make sure you pay a visit and purchase some of their lovely cheeses!

The following photos were taken on 28th February 2018, and extremely blustery winter day!

Tefia to Los Molinos

This is the only road in to Los Molinos, taking you from the FV-207 just before Tefia, down the FV-221. If coming from the north of the island, you may wish to just cut the corner off, and turn right just after the village of Tefia. This route will take you past the beautiful 4 sail windmill, an ideal spot for taking some photos! Read more about Los Molinos. As usual, this video is obviously speeded up! In real time this journey takes about 10 minutes.

Playa De Jarugo

About a 15 minute drive down a reasonably decent track just south west of Tindaya you’ll find the beautiful beach Playa De Jarugo.

There’s a decent sized ‘car park’, and a short walk through sand dunes to a good size beach, being approximately 230 metres long, of beautiful golden sand. At each end, north and south, are tall cliffs giving shelter to the beach.

Whilst it’s position is fairly remote, it is nevertheless a popular place, and especially on a Sunday when local residents often flock there.

As with all the beaches along the west coast, care must be taken when swimming, and at times other than summer, swimming is dangerous due to strong swells and under currents of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Nudism is not unusual here.

Although Tindaya is within the municipal of La Oliva, and this beach is generally known as ‘Tindaya beach’, it actually comes under the municipality of Puerto del Rosario.

The area to the east and south-east of Playa De Jarugo, is also of historical interest, and just to the south you’ll find Gambuesa de Jarugo.

Gambuesa de Jarugo

Just to the south and east of Playa de Jarugo are the mountainous areas, plains and barrancos where goats roam freely.

Directly south lies of the beach is the Gambuesa de Jarugo, an aboriginal stone coral, where majoreros manage their semi-wild cattle in a pre-Hispanic traditional manner, that remains practically unchanged today.

Once a year at sunrise, many shepherds gather with their Bardinos (farm dogs), and set off to round up the goats and herd them down to the gambuesa.

Each farmer has their own brand mark. Once the goats are in the coral, ownership is determined of those goats that are branded, and their new offspring duly marked with the brands of their owners. Should there be any disputes, they are always settled by the ‘Commissioner’, a duly appointed position to oversea the whole procedure.

There are various reasons for rounding up the goats; perhaps just merely to check their status and to mark new goats for domestic herds, and sometimes to provide meat.

Photos to come soon!!