Playa del Ingles - Tourist information & resort guide
Playa del Ingles beach panorama with San Agustin in the distance
Playa del Ingles is a purpose built resort being built with tourism in mind. The entire resort is a mass of Hotels, apartments, shops, supermarkets, bars, clubs, cafes and restaurants. The section of the resort, known as San Fernando, that is on the inland side of the main highway is where the Spanish workers live. Shops in this area are cheaper, but English is not usually spoken unlike the shops in the tourist area.
Annexo Beach Front Shopping Centre
Playa del Ingles Beach Temperature Sign & Promenade Anexo II Shopping centre
Beach car park Anexo II Shopping centr
- Absolutely full of Restaurants & bars,some with entertainment
- Beach gear / tourist shops, 2 supermarkets
- Toilets s& a tourist information office.
- Very large car park
- Very long, 650m & narrow
Located on the next to the beachin central Plata del Ingles
Location of Playa del Ingles
On the south coast of Gran Canaria , one of the Canary Islands, Spain.
Transfer time Airport - Playa del Ingles
The package holiday transfer time from Gran Canaria Airport is 35 to 45 minutes.
Description of Playa del Ingles
Playa del Ingles is the largest resort on Gran Canaria,with a vibrant nightlife to suit all tastes and is particularly popular with couples and groups. It is crammed with cafes and restaurants serving a variety of cuisines.
Couples and groups of friends flock to Playa del Ingles, keen to enjoy the invariably sunny skies, sandy beaches and windsurfing conditions. Conveniently located approximately 30km from the airport, this resort offers a host of amenities to satisfy even the most discerning of visitor.
The beach starts at the eastern end at the resort of St Augustin where the coast changes from rock to sand. The width of the beach is narrow and the sand is retained by angled rock groins. As you travel westward the width increases dramatically add the sand dunes start to appears at the weet end of the long commercia centre full of restaurants, cafes bars & touristy shops. The centre is right on the beach & backed by a large car park.
Photograph showing the beach at Playa del Ingles. Behind the beach is a busy promenade,with an array of cafes and bars to supply your lunchtime snack or sunset cocktail or drink. Many hotels situated away from the beach provide regular courtesy buses. These hotels tend to be nearer to Playa del Ingles nightlife. At the far end the beach Maspalomas towering dunes.
Facilities in Playa del Ingles
Playa del Ingles Beaches
The beach at Playa del Ingles is backed by a busy promenade, in a prime position for that lunchtime snack or sunset cocktail! It is reached by steps and roads and several hotels lay on regular courtesy buses. Wander along to the mile wide expanse of the Oasis of Maspalomas with its towering dunes, which sweep gently into the sea.
Some areas of Playa del Ingles are hilly and access to the beach can be difficult for the less mobile.
Jet Ski from Playa del Ingles beach, Gran Canaria, Spain
Playa del Ingles Beach central section
The low building is the shopping centre Anexo II with shops, restaurants, cafes & bars This is the most popular section of the beach
2 Tourists Sunbathing & Relaxing on a quieter section of Playa del Ingles Beach
View point overlooking a Quieter section of Playa del Ingles Beach & Dunes
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Plenty of quieter sections can be found if you want to just relax and obtain a lazy sun tan. Lots of people stroll along near the waters edge the several kilometres of beach to Maspalomas
An view point juts out onto the beach near the Parque Sahara Beach hotel with good views along the beach in one direction & the sand dunes in the other. This section is where the beach has become covered in small sand dunes.
Playa del Ingles Bars and Nightlife
List of Playa del Ingles Bars, Discos and Clubs List of Playa del Ingles GAY Bars, Discos and ClubsA lively resort with the many bars, clubs and restaurants that make Playa del Ingles one of the busiest resorts in Gran Canaria. Most are located in the Commercial Centres (Shopping centres) but others can be found on the main roads.
The Kasbah shopping centre, Metro shopping centre and Plaza de Maspalomas shopping centre, which are next to each other are the centre of nightlife and also the Yumbo shopping centre with several comedy drag shows and the Cita shopping centre for Girlie shows.
The 2 shopping centres for Gay nightlife are the shopping centre, easily the leader and the Cita shopping centre. Further information for gays see Gay Yumbo and Gay Cita
The above mentioned are the livelier centres, but all the shopping centres in Playa del Ingles have a selection of bars & restaurants, providing music, entertainment or are quieter for customers who want to totally relax on there holidays, and usually a few livelier bars.
Shopping in Playa del Ingles
Playa del Ingles has the look of a city, its bustling streets lined with hotels, shops, and cafes, and its visitors come from all over Europe. There are several shopping complexes in the centre of town, including the ever-popular Kasbah.
Shopping centres are called Comercial Centres in Spain. Comercial Center is often shortened to CC or C.C. especially on maps
Kasbah Shopping Centre along with the nearby Metro and Plaza centres are the main nightlife area in Playa del Ingles
Kasbah Shopping Centre Irish Centre Area
Ballroom & Latino Dancing in the main central Square in the Kasbah Shopping Centre.
The Yumbo is Playa del Ingles largest Shopping Centre and the main Gay nightlife centre in Playa del Ingles. The Yumbo host several show bars with excellent comedy drag cabaret which attract a large audiences usually with more heterosexuals than gays.
The Main Square in the Cita Centre surrounded by restaurants
The Chaparral Shopping Centre is a smaller centre in the north area of the resort
The Tropical Shopping Centre is located on the sea front near the Playa del Ingles Veril Bus Station
Playa del Ingles Restaurants
List of Playa del Ingles Restaurants
Everyone, even families, can find a quiet nook to have something to eat here. The choice of cuisine is vast and there is something to suit all palates Many of them overlooking the main section of Playa del Ingles beach
Playa del Ingles Transport - Local Buses
Bus Stops in Playa del Ingles:.
Popular Bus Routes:.
More information on Bus routes Southern Gran Canaria.
Gay
Gay Nightlife
The 2 main gay nightlife areas for gay bars and gay nightclubs are:
More information Gay Yumbo centre
More information Gay Cita centre
Gay and nudist beaches
Roughly mid way between Playa del Ingles and Maspalomas is the nudist beach is at Number 6 cafe and the gay beach is at number 7.
The dunes are a popular cruising area and are patrolled by the police, some on quad bikes or jeeps. The police are there to ensure the safety of the tourists, gay or straight, and are very broad minded.
Tourist information Office
There are 2 Tourist information Offices in Playa del Ingles. The location of both information offices is shown on our Playa del Ingles Map
Tourist information Office at Yumbo Shopping Centre
- The main Tourist information Offices is located next to the main entrance to the Yumbo Shopping centre, on the corner of Av. de España and Av. de los Estados Unidos
Address: Avda. España - Esquina con Avda. EE.UU. (Centro Comercial Yumbo) , 35100, Playa del Inglés (San Bartolomé de Tirajana) - the other one is located in the Anexo II shopping centre on the beach front.
Address: Paseo Marítimo - Centro Comercial Anexo II Local 20 , 35100, Playa del Inglés (San Bartolomé de Tirajana)
Many maps show another information office through the Riu Palace Hotel at the bottom of Av. de Tirajana on the path to the dunes. This is an information office for the Maspalomas Sand dunes nature reserve, and is very rarely open.
- Address: Avda. de Tirajana (Bajo del hotel Riu Palace Maspalomas) nº1 , 35100, Playa del Inglés (San Bartolomé de Tirajana)
Maspalomas Sand dunes
As you head south west along the Playa del Ingles beach you find that the beach is widening all the time, and transforms from a beach to a beach backed by sand dunes. Before you reach the southern tip you can see the vast Maspalomas Sand dunes stretching out to the West up to the restaurants and bars next to Maspalomas beach.
The walk along the sea edge in front of the sand dunes is extremely popular with a parade of tourists walking in both directions. In you do not want to do the full return journeys there are plenty of buses running between the 2 resorts
