Spain / Canary Islands
Playa de las Canteras
Playa de las Canteras is a 2.3 km-long sandy beach facing north-west, 1.6 km north-west of Centro (Canary Islands, Spain). The sea averages 23.4 °C in September, its warmest month, and 18.8 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in June–November. Recorded status on Wikidata: Blue Flag beach.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
The Playa de Las Canteras (Las Canteras beach; 'Beach of the Quarries') is the main urban beach of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, on the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. It is considered one of the most prominent beaches in the archipelago.
Wikidata item Q3426178 · classified as recreation area, tourist destination and urban beach.
Month by month
October at Playa de las Canteras
Beach-day index 8.4/10 · Spain median 6.7
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 19.5 °C | 18.8 °C | 18.8 °C | 19.1 °C | 20.0 °C | 21.2 °C | 21.9 °C | 22.7 °C | 23.4 °C | 23.2 °C | 22.0 °C | 20.6 °C |
| High °C | 19° | 19° | 19° | 19° | 20° | 21° | 22° | 23° | 24° | 23° | 22° | 20° |
| Low °C | 18° | 17° | 18° | 18° | 19° | 20° | 21° | 22° | 23° | 22° | 21° | 19° |
| Rain mm | 18 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 25 | 26 |
| Cloud % | 58 | 58 | 59 | 58 | 59 | 57 | 66 | 57 | 44 | 51 | 61 | 59 |
| Wind m/s | 6.1 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 6.7 | 8.0 | 7.4 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 6.0 | 6.1 |
| Daylight h | 10.5 | 11.2 | 12.0 | 12.8 | 13.5 | 13.9 | 13.8 | 13.2 | 12.4 | 11.5 | 10.8 | 10.4 |
| Record high/low | 22°/15° | 22°/15° | 24°/15° | 26°/16° | 25°/17° | 23°/18° | 25°/19° | 26°/21° | 26°/21° | 26°/20° | 25°/18° | 23°/17° |
| Beach index | 5.2 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 7.0 | 7.9 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 7.1 | 6.0 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in September–October; September scores 8.6/10 with highs of 24 °C, sea at 23.4 °C and 5 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Spain in the same month.
At its warmest the water here is 0.5 °C warmer than the Spain median for September (22.9 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 20.9 °C, warmer than 66% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
December is the wettest month (26 mm) and June the driest (2 mm); the yearly total is about 150 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.4 hours in December to 13.9 hours in June; in mid-September the sun rises at 07:46 and sets at 20:08 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-west (305°). Open water fills about 44% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 20:59 local time on a bearing of 297°.
Straight out to the north-west there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell. The beach is on Gran Canariastraat, an island of about 1,565 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 20 m deep and 58 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 22 m above sea level 500 m inland and 11 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 91% built-up land and 7% bare ground, sand or rock (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 65% of that circle.
- Built 91%
- Bare 7%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Bathing water quality
The official EU bathing-water site “Playa Canteras (Las) Pm5”, 290 m from the beach centre, was rated Excellent for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 11 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Excellent
- 2016Excellent
- 2017Excellent
- 2018Excellent
- 2019Excellent
- 2020Excellent
- 2021Excellent
- 2022Excellent
- 2023Excellent
- 2024Excellent
- 2025Excellent
Source: European Environment Agency, EU Bathing Water Directive assessments · national site profile. Classes are based on four seasons of bacteriological sampling.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 8.0 m/s in July, the windiest month.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 494Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 8Public toilets
- –Showers
- 25Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 89Hotels & guesthouses
- 63Grocery shops
- 3Water-sports spots
- 1Marinas & slipways
- 3Playgrounds & water parks
- 123Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 22Pharmacies & clinics
- 18Cash machines
- 11Bike rental
- 1Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 351 restaurants, 48 cafés, 90 bars and 5 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 89 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Escuela de Circo MSB - Sede Zona Aérea attraction 520 m SE
- Centro de Arte La Regenta museum 590 m E
- Elder Museum of Science and Technology museum 700 m E
- Museo Elder de la Ciencia y la Tecnología museum 710 m E
- Museo Naval museum 910 m SE
- Acuario de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria attraction 980 m NE
Islands in view
- Islote Matavinos (Roque Tortuga) 1.6 km N
Marinas
- Puerto Santa Catalina 660 m E
Diving & boat hire
- Rental Bike Station Las Palmas 420 m E
- Bikestation Las Palmas 24 430 m E
- Academia náutica ARCOS 810 m S
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gran Canaria Airport Gran Canaria Island | LPA | 23.7 km | south |
| Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna Airport Tenerife | TFN | 96.2 km | north-west |
| Tenerife Sur Airport Tenerife | TFS | 112 km | west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 123 bus stops within 1.5 km and 25 mapped car parks within 1 km.
4 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 521.8K residents); within 30 km there are 23 (about 966.9K).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 10,329 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in October (1,106 views), 1.7× the quietest month.
Map
Loading map…
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 6.6 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w30598416; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2A_28RDS_20241110_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site ES705M0161754).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 9.9K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.