Top 7 Things to Do in La Gomera, Canary Islands
Like many Canary Islands, La Gomera is a volcanic island with incredible diversity. You can travel from a rain forest to sheer sectional cliffs littered with palm trees to beautiful black sand rocky beaches all in a relatively short drive.
Assuming vacation time is short and you only have three days to spend here. Let’s dive in and look at the top things you should do while you are here.
The Spot
Little La Gomera sits in the shadow across the ocean of Tenerife’s massive extinct volcano, Pico del Teide.
We ventured to this charming little island because:
A. We wanted to do all the Canary Islands and
B. We wanted to hear the whistling language.
However, we found many more awesome things about La Gomera than we expected.
La Gomera is the second smallest Canary Island and is shaped like a circle due to its central volcanic origins. Given its past volcanic history, it has enabled this land to take on extreme differences in very close proximity.
For example, Garajonay National Park’s scenery is akin to the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park of the Pacific Northwest US. Although, the Garajonay is a tiny dot in comparison, but the fauna is just as astounding.
Top 7 Things to Do in La Gomera
Here are our top things to do in La Gomera in 3 days:
See the rain forest of Garajonay National Park
Listen to a Silbador whistle
Feast your eyes on Los Organos
Stand in awe at the impressive Roque de Agando
Drink a cortado largo (large coffee) on the black sandy beach of Playa Santiago
Go swimming at Playa de Vallehermoso swimming pool by the beach
Stand over a cliff’s edge at Mirador de Abrante
We’ve embedded the top things to do in La Gomera in this interactive map below.
SEE THE RAIN FOREST OF GARAJONAY NATIONAL PARK
This place is a must visit stop if you are in the Canary Islands (and considering La Gomera).
Driving around this area is a bit sketchy as it can get very foggy and wet. Make sure to keep your lights on, drive slow, and pull over for the locals (they prefer to drive fast).
Oh yeah, it is super wet here. So bring a rain jacket and expect your shoes to get wet!
LISTEN TO A SILBADOR WHISTLE
Silbo is a whistling language the people on La Gomera would use to communicate far distances across the rugged terrain (and it has around 4,000 words).
This was one of Kirk’s top things to see in the Canary Islands from a cultural perspective, and we pretty much failed trying to hear this.
Honestly, this was a disappointment.
We went from restaurant to restaurant and they were either closed or no one there knew the language.
Since La Gomera is known for it's whistling language and the so called "Silbadors", our question was: Where are they all at? They say Silbo is taught in the public school system, but we found it very odd that no one seemed to actually know how to do it.
Nonetheless, we stumbled upon a Silbador finally at a touristy overlook called Mirador De Abrante (listed below). We literally walked in at the ending and heard the last 3 seconds of his whistle.
Here is a video that helped me get my fix on Silbo.
LOS ORGANOS
This was an epic adventure.
There are two ways to get here: by boat or by some sort of aircraft. We went by drone.
To get here by boat, it was 40 Euro per person (via Speedy Gomera) and I wish we had paid to take this tour hindsight 20/20.
Los Organos makes Devils Postpile National Monument in Mammoth Lakes, California or Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach Basalt Columns in Iceland look weak in comparison.
These massive 200 meters wide (656 ft) and 80 meters (262 ft) high prismatic basalt columns at Los Organos are truly spectacular.
Flying the drone here was not ideal as I lost connection to the drone several times and thought it was a goner. I would not suggest flying here.
Also, the road getting here was really dangerous in our tiny Citroen as you are cliff hugging most of the journey on a dirt road that is definitely circumspect to erosion and certain death. Along the way to Mirador Punta de Alcalá (where we launched the drone and had an amazing view of the coastline), we saw some tiny little churches which seemed very old and foreboding given our predicament.
Needless to say, we made it and it was definitely worth going!
ROQUE DE AGANDO
Many consider Roque de Agando to be the symbol of La Gomera.
This giant volcanic plug juts out of the strange landscape of pine and palm trees. It looks like a giant egg was set amongst the craggy mountainside.
The section of highway near Roque de Agando is incredibly scenic and worth taking some time to simply stare, breathe, and be present.
DRINK A CORTADO (LARGO)
Whenever we ordered a coffee, we always were getting the classic white bone china mug and black coffee. However, we often saw the locals drinking these small glass cups of coffee with a layer of white at the bottom (assuming cream).
After asking a kind cametera (waitress), we were finally basking in the glory of these delicious little sweet coffee drinks.
They use a type of sweetened condensed milk and add it to the coffee and it makes for a wonderful pick me up.
We picked one up at this trendy little beach joint called Bar Terraza La Chalana which also had a good beer selection.
GO SWIMMING AT PLAYA DE VALLEHERMOSO
We actually skipped this.
There are tons of natural swimming pools across all the Canary Islands and we were pretty much over these except for the most epic spots.
But, many people enjoy this beautiful man-made swimming pool near the beach, so we felt inclined to include it in this list as well.
MIRADOR DE ABRANTE
A very cool and modern overlook that will quite possibly give you vertigo as you walk onto the bottomless glass floor.
We happened to arrive when there were several recent buses that had pulled in, so it was a bit crowded.
However, we were able to find some time to snag a few quick photos showcasing this cool architectural biomimetic fusion of design and natural space.
Things We Wish We Knew Beforehand
You could probably do all of these things listed above in one two days, but it would be rushed and you likely would not enjoy it as much
We would probably spend more time hiking at Garajonay as there are tons of trails
Los Organos could be an epic dive site with those massive basalt columns thrusting out of the water
This could be similar to La Rapadura dive site on Tenerife, but Los Organos could be a challenging dive adventure and might not really be worth it given the difficulty to get here, weather, currents, etc.
Silbo is not very common and you really have to seek it / get lucky to hear someone speak it (err whistle it)
There is also apparently good whale and dolphin watching, but this seems to be a common theme on every Canary Island
Kirk + Martina have been adventure travelling essentially their whole lives. Martina has been to over 60 countries, speaks 3 languages, and is a badass. Kirk enjoys pushing limits to their extreme, hence the love for action sports and anything dangerous / adrenaline filled fun.
We realized the adventures we go on and the knowledge we learn could be useful for others.
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