We left El Patio in time to saunter gently down to Los Cristianos, hoping to stop off in a few places and have lunch before heading to the ferry port.

Our first stop was Los Gigantes, the southern side of the row of giant cliffs we saw from Punta la Tena.   Interestingly, as we went over Puerto de Erjos (over 1.1 Km above sea level), the temperature rose markedly.  We left El Patio at about 18C, and got to Los Gigantes (on the coast) at about 24C.

Los Gigantes and Puerto de Santiago are mostly large tourist resorts, supposedly ‘low key’ according to the guide books.  It looked fairly built up to us. 

If you look very carefully, you can just see Punto de Tena at the very end of the cliffs.

After taking in the view,  we decided to head south and with a road closure and a mission to fill up with petrol,  we just headed on to the ferry port.

This was a good choice, as the car park where we had to leave the car was full, so it was ‘one out one in’ and we sat in the sun for quite some time – it was 27C according to the car.

The many charms of Los Cristianos (and the equally charming Playa de los Americas) were at our disposal, but we preferred to sit at the ferry port cafe and watch the ferries.

All very different to Greek ferries.  The Spanish adhere to all safety policies and unlike Greek ferries, where foot passengers wait impatiently to disembark as soon as the bow doors kiss the ground, the Spanish procedure involves waiting until everything is tied off and fully grounded before anyone gets off.

Greek ferry turnaround time (from arrival to departure)?  About 15 minutes – even the huge ones.   Spanish ferry turnaround time?  About 45 minutes!

Our ferry left on time and as we pulled into the main channel between La Gomera and Tenerife, we saw a few dolphins in the distance- one pod of about 10 and then a few pairs.  I was beyond excited. This is a Marine Preservation area, so it’s absolutely the best place to see cetaceans.  Sadly there were no whales.

As we chugged up the channel, the extent of the development was revealed.  Tourism accounts for 30% of Canarian GDP.  No wonder there are so many hotels.

We also saw Los Gigantes from another perspective – sadly a bit hazy.

As the journey was three and a half hours, I had hoped to see stars.  It clouded over.  And it got a bit rough – lots of pitching.  But all in all it was an easy crossing – the ferry was empty (apparently most of their traffic is freight).

Roll on Santa Cruz de La Palma.