Las Palmas Cruise Port Information

We sailed to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria on our cruise on the Independence of the Seas. Here are a few tips to spend the day and not be too far away from the ship to ensure you are back for sail away!

Where is Las Palmas?

Gran Canaria is one of the Canary Islands located in the Atlantic Ocean, 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Morocco southern border. Las Palmas is the capital of Gran Canaria, and lies on the north east coast.

Where does the cruise ship dock in Las Palmas?

The port of Las Palmas initially looked pretty industrial, however, we were so glad we got up early for sail in as the sunrise was stunning.

Sunrise sail in to Las Palmas

We docked at the Santa Catalina Cruise Ship Port which is within walking distance of Las Palmas centre. We travelled with our Dad’s one of whom uses a mobility scooter, this sometimes can cause difficulties when areas are cobbled and uneven. However, the pavements were flat and easy to navigate so we were able to explore the streets right through to the beach area.

Las Palmas

Where can you find free Wifi in Las Palmas?

We didn’t see Wifi readily advertised and the bar we stopped at did not have it. However, we did find it on the top floor of the El Muelle Shopping Centre in Mcdonald’s. We didn’t want to spend anything in Mcdonalds, so we just sat at a table that had just been vacated but had the trays were still there. It looked like we had finished our meal and used their free wifi for a good 30 minutes. It was a popular spot for a lot of the cruise ship crew too!

Walking out of the El Muelle Shopping Centre

What is in walking distance of Las Palmas Cruise Port?

If you walk straight towards the buildings past the shopping centre and carry straight on you will arrive at a lovely beach, Playa de Las Canteras. It has a natural offshore lava reef which acts as a wavebreak so the waters are always calm and with the year round warm weather it is a very popular spot.

Wheelchair area on the beach

It really was an excellent beach, clean and well maintained, with being over 2kms long there is plenty of space and even had a special area for wheelchairs which was really good to see.

Playa de Las Canteras

There are numerous places to eat and drink all along the esplanade. We had wine, beer and coffee for the four of us and it was less than 10 euros.

Drinks by the beach

We parked ourselves at one of the many beachside cafes and spent a few hours people watching. It really was a good find.

How far are the shops from the cruise port in Las Palmas?

The cruise ship docks within 5 minutes walk of the El Muelle Shopping Centre you can’t miss it. In this medium size shopping centre you will find a variety of shops, restaurants and a cinema. As we walked through the town there were other shopping options too.

Independence of the Seas docked in Las Palmas

We really enjoyed our afternoon out exploring Las Palmas, particularly the beach as we were expecting dark volcanic sand but were pleasantly surprised with the beautiful and unspoilt beach.

Las Palmas was a great port of call and we had excellent weather, apparently it only gets 10cms of rain per year! We believe we will definitely be back in the future!

Thanks for reading!

Sailing away from Las Palmas

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