Spain / Canary Islands
Playa Las Gaviotas
Playa Las Gaviotas is a 294 m-long sandy beach facing south-east, 9.1 km north-east of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). The sea averages 23.9 °C in September, its warmest month, and 18.9 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in June–November.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa Las Gaviotas
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 | 19.6 °C | 18.9 °C | 18.9 °C | 19.3 °C | 20.2 °C | 21.5 °C | 22.2 °C | 23.2 °C | 23.9 °C | 23.6 °C | 22.3 °C | 20.8 °C |
| High °C | 19° | 18° | 18° | 19° | 20° | 21° | 22° | 23° | 24° | 23° | 22° | 20° |
| Low °C | 18° | 18° | 18° | 18° | 19° | 20° | 22° | 22° | 23° | 23° | 21° | 19° |
| Rain mm | 24 | 33 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 34 | 38 |
| Cloud % | 58 | 58 | 59 | 58 | 59 | 57 | 66 | 57 | 44 | 51 | 61 | 59 |
| Wind m/s | 6.0 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.1 |
| Daylight h | 10.5 | 11.2 | 12.0 | 12.8 | 13.6 | 13.9 | 13.8 | 13.2 | 12.4 | 11.5 | 10.8 | 10.3 |
| Record high/low | 21°/15° | 22°/15° | 23°/15° | 23°/16° | 22°/17° | 23°/18° | 25°/20° | 26°/21° | 26°/21° | 26°/20° | 25°/18° | 23°/17° |
| Beach index | 5.2 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 5.8 | 6.9 | 7.3 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 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 August–October; September scores 8.7/10 with highs of 24 °C, sea at 23.9 °C and 8 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Spain in the same month.
At its warmest the water here is 1.0 °C warmer than the Spain median for September (22.9 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 21.2 °C, warmer than 67% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
December is the wettest month (38 mm) and July the driest (2 mm); the yearly total is about 210 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.3 hours in December to 13.9 hours in June; in mid-September the sun rises at 07:48 and sets at 20:11 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-east (140°). Open water fills about 47% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
At no time of year does the sun set over the sea here: sunset bearings run from 244° to 297°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in every month.
Straight out to the south-east the next coast is roughly 50 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell. The beach is on an island of about 2,037 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 42 m deep and 99 m at 3 km, so deep water starts close to shore. Behind the beach the ground is about 204 m above sea level 500 m inland and 236 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 49% grassland, 34% shrubland and 13% bare ground, sand or rock (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 51% of that circle.
- Grass 49%
- Shrub 34%
- Bare 13%
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 Gaviotas (Las) Pm1”, 60 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 7.3 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
- 2Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 6Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 9Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 2Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 2 bars.
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
Viewpoints
- Mirador dos Playas 310 m W
Nature
- Cueva del Agua cave entrance 940 m NE
- Montaña las Guirreras peak 1.4 km N
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna Airport Tenerife | TFN | 16.5 km | west |
| Tenerife Sur Airport Tenerife | TFS | 65.0 km | south-west |
| Gran Canaria Airport Gran Canaria Island | LPA | 101 km | south-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 9 bus stops within 1.5 km and 6 mapped car parks within 1 km.
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 211.4K residents); within 30 km there are 8 (about 445.5K).
Reference
Playa Las Gaviotas has an article on the ES Wikipedia: Playa de Las Gaviotas.
Wikidata item Q6078848.
When people look it up
The ES Wikipedia article was read 1,215 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in September (189 views), 3.5× the quietest month.
Map
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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 13.4 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature r2108905; 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 S2B_28RCS_20231012_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site ES709M0381885).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 170 Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.