La Palma with kids: what actually works

What nobody warns you about: the bends

La Palma is small on a map and enormous in driving time. The roads are mountain roads, bend after bend, and with children prone to car sickness that is a genuine problem.

Two pieces of advice from someone who sees it every week. First: do not plan to cross the island twice in one day. Second: pick one area and work in a short radius from it. If you stay in the Aridane valley, almost everything you will want to do is within a long half hour.

And if your child does get car sick, the stretch between Santa Cruz and the valley is the worst. You have to do it, but do it in the morning and without a heavy breakfast.

The rock pools, the best plan on the island

Natural pools are what works best with children here, by a distance. They are volcanic rock basins filled with seawater and sheltered from the swell, which is exactly what you need when the Atlantic is rough.

The island’s official tourism site lists four: Charco Azul, in San Andrés y Sauces; La Fajana, in Barlovento; Lomada Grande, in Garafía; and the Poris de Puntagorda.

Charco Azul is the best known and the one with its own children’s section, shallower and calmer. It is in the north-east, so from the valley it is a fair drive.

Two warnings that apply everywhere: volcanic rock scrapes, so bring water shoes; and when there is heavy swell they can close for safety. Check the forecast before making the trip.

Beaches: which one and why

If you are in the valley, the beach at Puerto de Tazacorte is the safe choice with children. Black sand, but above all the pier: it breaks the swell and leaves the water calm even when it is choppy further out.

It has a Blue Flag, showers, toilets, sun loungers and adapted access. Parking is free and right there. And the restaurants are three metres away, which with tired children matters more than it sounds.

Something that surprises people: black sand heats up less than everyone fears. It is not the griddle you imagine. Still, flip-flops at midday.

More about the port in this guide.

What works at each age

A three-year-old and a twelve-year-old are not the same trip, and here you notice it.

Up to 5

Rock pools and sheltered beach. No long walks and no viewpoints with a ravine beside them. Short visits, half an hour or less, and eat early.

From 6 to 11

This is where everything opens up. Kayaking and paddle surfing in the sheltered water by the pier, the best place on this coast to start. Farm visits, where touching and smelling beats looking. And the Banana Museum: two euros and half an hour, which is just short of boredom.

Teenagers

The Roque de los Muchachos at night. It is one of the clearest skies on the planet and at that age it genuinely lands. Wrap up far more than you would guess from the coast: it is cold up there even if you are in shirtsleeves down below.

When it rains or the calima comes in

It does not happen often, but it happens, and with children a day shut in the apartment ruins the trip.

The island’s museums are small and cheap, which with children works in your favour. In the valley, the Banana Museum takes half an hour and costs two euros.

And something not many people know: a banana farm visit works in light rain, because almost all of it happens under the leaves, which keep off more than you would think.

Eating with children

At Puerto de Tazacorte you eat fish by the beach without booking, except in August. Papas arrugadas with mojo usually go down well even with fussy eaters, because in the end they are potatoes.

The harder part is the timing: people eat late here. If your children are used to dinner at seven, plan on carrying something with you.

Our own visit, since it may fit

Let us be clear: this is our business. But in case it suits, here is how it works with children.

The visit runs 2 h 30 min, it is free up to age 3 and costs €20 from 4 to 11. There is a shaded area where they can do their own thing while the adults finish the tasting, which is exactly when a child runs out of patience.

What tends to hook them is not the explanation: it is lifting a bunch and feeling the weight, and being told that the banana plant is not a tree and gives one single bunch in its whole life.

What I would not do

I would not take small children into the Caldera de Taburiente. It is spectacular, but the routes are long and the Barranco de las Angustias does not forgive.

I would not do two big activities on the same day. Everything here is further than it looks and the day disappears on its own.

And I would not leave the sun cream in the apartment. The light here is deceptive: it does not feel hot and it still burns.