Celebrate Pride at sea, from Puerto de Mogán

What’s on next

Maspalomas Pride — the southern pride week, with a parade along the avenue — runs May 3–9, 2027, half an hour by car from Puerto de Mogán. That week this coast fills up, so the boat is worth booking ahead. Dates not yet confirmed by the organisers.

Half an hour from Maspalomas, by road

Puerto de Mogán sits at the far south-western tip of Gran Canaria, where the southern motorway ends. From Maspalomas or Playa del Inglés — where the Yumbo and most of the scene are — it is about twenty-five to thirty minutes by car, and public buses run along the same road. That is why you can spend the morning at sea and be back in the afternoon without losing the day.

There is a reason of sea as well as of road: this whole coast lies in the lee of the trade winds, sheltered by the island itself. There is usually less wind and less swell here than in the north or the east, which is why trips go ahead on many days when the other end of the island is shut.

You charter the whole boat, not a seat

Worth saying plainly, because it changes how the day works: there is no shared party cruise here where you buy a single seat. What you book is the whole boat for your group, with its skipper, for the hours you choose.

That brings an advantage this crowd tends to care about: nobody else is on board. Your group sets the mood, you bring the music, and the route is agreed with the skipper before casting off. If you want to bring food or drink aboard, ask when you book: it is not included by default, and we would rather say so than promise it.

What you see from the water

Heading west out of the harbour mouth the coast closes in almost at once into a sheer cliff, the rock banded in colour, with sea caves hollowed out at its foot. The water over that shallow turns a very clear turquoise, and that is usually where the boat stops to swim: the bottom is volcanic rock rather than sand, so you see far more than you expect.

Further west the road runs out and the beaches you can only reach on foot or by sea begin: Veneguera, El Perchel and Güigüí. Pebble beaches at the foot of ravines, without a single building, and seeing them from the water is the part of the day almost nobody expects.

When to come, and where the dates are published

Maspalomas hosts two of the biggest events in the south of the island: Maspalomas Pride in spring and Winter Pride in early winter. The dates are set by the organisers and change every year, so check them on the event’s own website and on the Gran Canaria tourist board’s calendar before booking flights.

Outside those weeks the south-west is still the most sheltered part of the island, so a day on the water works almost all year round. What really decides is the forecast on the day: this business cancels for swell, wind or calima, and tells you by phone.