Spain / Canary Islands
Playa del Papagayo
Playa del Papagayo is a 143 m-long sandy beach facing south-south-west, 4.6 km south-east of Playa Blanca (Canary Islands, Spain). The sea averages 23.0 °C in September, its warmest month, and 18.3 °C in March; it is 21 °C or warmer in July–November.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa del Papagayo
Beach-day index 8.6/10 · Spain median 6.7
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 19.1 °C | 18.4 °C | 18.3 °C | 18.7 °C | 19.6 °C | 20.8 °C | 21.6 °C | 22.4 °C | 23.0 °C | 22.8 °C | 21.5 °C | 20.1 °C |
| High °C | 19° | 19° | 19° | 20° | 21° | 22° | 23° | 24° | 24° | 24° | 22° | 20° |
| Low °C | 17° | 16° | 17° | 17° | 18° | 20° | 21° | 22° | 22° | 21° | 20° | 18° |
| Rain mm | 13 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 20 | 17 |
| Cloud % | 53 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 52 | 60 | 51 | 40 | 48 | 55 | 54 |
| Wind m/s | 6.1 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 8.1 | 7.3 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 6.1 |
| Daylight h | 10.5 | 11.2 | 12.0 | 12.8 | 13.6 | 14.0 | 13.8 | 13.2 | 12.4 | 11.5 | 10.7 | 10.3 |
| Record high/low | 23°/13° | 23°/14° | 27°/14° | 28°/15° | 28°/16° | 26°/17° | 27°/19° | 28°/20° | 29°/20° | 28°/19° | 28°/16° | 24°/16° |
| Beach index | 5.1 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 8.2 | 9.0 | 8.6 | 7.1 | 5.9 |
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 9.0/10 with highs of 24 °C, sea at 23.0 °C and 2 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Spain in the same month.
Across the year the sea averages 20.5 °C, warmer than 64% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (20 mm) and June the driest (1 mm); the yearly total is about 110 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.3 hours in December to 14.0 hours in June; in mid-September the sun rises at 07:39 and sets at 20:01 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-west (210°). Open water fills about 69% of the horizon close by, which makes it an exposed spot with water on most sides.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 20:54 local time on a bearing of 297°.
Sunrise is over the sea in September–March.
The opposite shore is only about 12.0 km away to the south-south-west, which keeps the water sheltered from big waves. The beach is on an island of about 815 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 24 m deep and 34 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 19 m above sea level 500 m inland and 39 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 96% bare ground, sand or rock and 3% built-up land (satellite land-cover map, 2021): open dunes, sand or rock. Water makes up 68% of that circle.
- Bare 96%
- Built 3%
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 Puerto Muelas Pm1”, 760 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 8.1 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
- 46Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 11Public toilets
- –Showers
- 57Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 46Hotels & guesthouses
- 4Grocery shops
- 2Water-sports spots
- 7Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 2Cash machines
- 1Bike rental
- 3Viewpoints
- 1Historic sites
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 32 restaurants, 1 café and 13 bars. Accommodation: 46 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
- Fundacion Cesar Manrique museum 720 m E
Historic sites
- Castillo de las Coloradas monument 710 m SW
Nature
- Timanfaya nature reserve 810 m N
- Cueva de Agua cave entrance 1.1 km SE
- Papagayo peak 1.2 km E
Diving & boat hire
- Kayak & Walk 140 m E
- Papagayo Watersports 510 m E
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport San Bartolomé | ACE | 21.2 km | north-east |
| Fuerteventura Airport El Matorral | FUE | 44.0 km | south |
| Gran Canaria Airport Gran Canaria Island | LPA | 186 km | south-west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 7 bus stops within 1.5 km and 57 mapped car parks within 1 km.
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 10K residents); within 30 km there are 11 (about 203K).
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playa del Papagayo | – | 23.0 °C | 143 m | Sand |
| Playa Blanca | 4.7 km NW | 23.0 °C | 359 m | – |
| Playa Quemada | 8.9 km NE | 22.9 °C | 619 m | Sand |
- Playa Blanca4.7 km NWCompare
- Playa Quemada8.9 km NECompare
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 9.2 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w27308511; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- 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 S2B_28RFT_20240127_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site ES708M0341815).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 18.1K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.