Guide to La Palma

Beaches

It's fair to say that La Palma isn't your run-of-the-mill beach resort. The coastline tends to be quite wild and rugged. However, that's not to say you can't unfurl your beach towel and soak up the sun here. You'll find hideaway coves tucked here and there, and there are some good sandy beaches, too. Most of these are concentrated around Puerto Naos, Puerto de Tazacorte and Los Cancajos. All three areas offer up striking strips of black volcanic sand where you can while away a few hours in the sun with the latest Jackie Collins. And finding a spot all to yourself shouldn't be too much trouble either – the beaches don't tend to get overly crowded. La Palma's a bit of a hit with the diving fraternity, too. During the summer months the ocean's pleasantly calm and clear, as well as being rich in aquatic life, and the southern resort of Fuencaliente is a favourite scuba haunt. It's worth remembering that the sea can get choppy in the wintertime, though, so keep an eye on the flag warning systems.

Eating out

• When thinking about La Palma, you need to put any Canary Islands preconceptions you may have on hold. This is especially true of the food. You'll be hard pushed to find a fast-food joint in La Palma. That's just not what the island's about. Instead you can graze on big juicy olives and slices of cured Serrano ham in the little tapas bars that barnacle the backstreets. Or tuck into traditional seafood dishes in the fish restaurants that hug the harbour-fronts. Dishes like 'churros de pescado' - crispy fishcakes made from minced fish that are coated in a salty batter and then fried. 'Sancocho de pescado' – salty fish that's slow-cooked with potatoes and vegetables. And 'caldereta' – a type of fish soup. Fish aside, the Palmeros love all things meaty, too. They mainly eat pork but you'll also notice goat and rabbit on menus. 'Cabrito en salsa' is a typical Canarian dish – diced pieces of goat meat stewed in a wine-based gravy that's flavoured with red peppers and herbs. 'Puchero' is another favourite and is a hearty stew made with chunks of peppery chorizo sausage, beans, chickpeas and vegetables. But whether you order meat or fish, most dishes are served with 'papas arrugadas'. These are little potatoes that are cooked in brine and salt. They come out looking all wrinkly with residues of the salt still visible on their skins. They're usually eaten with garlicky 'mojo' sauce, which varies in its taste and colour depending on whether it's made with coriander, in which case it's green, or paprika, in which case it's red.
  
  
• La Gaviota, Barlovento Tuck into straight-from-the-net fish at this lovely little seafood restaurant up on the northeast coast of the island. Not only is right next to a beach but it's set within a cave, too.
  
• El Quinto Pino, Fuencaliente With a wood-fired oven on site, the pizzas here are particularly good. It also serves up lip-smacking king prawns and grilled steak.
  
• Restaurante El Lagar, Los Cancajos A large terrace. A varied menu. And views over Santa Cruz de la Palma. This place ticks all the right boxes.
  
• Bodegon El Sanavadit, Santa Cruz de la Palma A great choice if you want to sample some traditional Canarian cooking. Try the 'quesillo', a kind of creme caramel made from eggs and sugar.
  
• La Placeta, Santa Cruz de la Palma Located in a gorgeous old Canarian townhouse, it specialises in fresh fish, rabbit and vegetarian dishes.

Nightlife

• In keeping with the authentic Spanish feel, evenings tend to revolve around meals out and enjoying drinks and nibbles in the local tapas bars. There are some disco-bars around Santa Cruz and Los Llanos, but generally speaking, most people tend to visit La Palma to relax rather than boogie the night away. Of the holiday resorts, Los Cancajos has the liveliest nightlife but it's still quite low-key when you compare it to what you'd find on some of the other, more 'touristy' Canary Islands.
  
  
• Bodegon Tamanca, San Nicolas This drinking den is where the locals come for their nightly booze up. Set in an old wine cave, it's warm, rustic and has a great atmosphere. You can eat here, too.
  
• Restaurante Cervantes, Los Llanos de Aridane This dinky bistro-come-theatre only has 10 tables or so and usually has live music. It also serves up creative Canarian cuisine like grilled steak with chestnuts, honey-drizzled cheese and lemon mousse with figs.
  
• H20, Los Cancajos Want to dance the night away? Then get into the groove down at this funky little disco.
  
• Bar Guantanamera, Los Cancajos For cocktails, tapas and pumping beats, give this popular hangout a whirl.
  
• Pub Tagoror, Los Cancajos Playing all sorts of music and offering up a fun-filled atmosphere, this disco-bar is great for a night out.

Shopping

Sometimes, to really get a feel for a place, you need to see what the locals get up to. And this is certainly the case when it comes to shopping in La Palma. When the Palmeros are in need of some serious retail therapy, they hotfoot it to Tenerife! Shopping malls, hypermarkets and department stores are more or less non-existent in La Palma. But this is all part of the charm of the island – it's not overly commercialised in the slightest. Of course, though, there are some shops and the main ones tend to be clustered in and around Santa Cruz and Los Llanos de Aridane. And down in the holiday resorts you'll find a few souvenir shops and a supermarket or two where you can get your hands on all of those holiday essentials like sun-cream and postcards. But for an authentic La Palma shopping experience you need to head up to the sleepy inland towns and villages. Here, you'll stumble across little artisan workshops and handicraft stalls selling traditional Canarian items like embroidery, lace and pottery decorated in geometric patterns. La Palma is also famous for its cigars – 'puros palmeros' – made in the town of Mazo. Granted, they may not be as famous as Cuban cigars but their quality and flavour is such that they're purchased for Spanish Royal Court in Madrid. Can't be bad!