On the search of the whales
The tourguides tell me a sperm whale was spotted two days ago. Today I set out to try my luck. It seems that everyone’s as excited as I am, in spite of the blowing Southern winds. Our cheeky tourguide is in high spirits and the skipper is already perched in position. Her binoculars are ready to hunt down any Gannets, Gulls or Cory’s Shearwaters (possibly one of the noisiest birds in the Canaries, famed for their raucous cackling). They are also searching for cetaceans, easy to spot from above and a sign of greater masses of fish below the water. Surely we could find some whales or dolphins using sonar equipment, but that would be cheating and not to mention highly detrimental to our marine mammal friends, who rely on their hearing to hunt, and escape from potential prey. As we follow our feathered scouts, taking leave from the island I prepare myself for the tedium of a long wait.
Spectacular coastline of La Palma
However with the stunning coastline of La Palma, boredom is not an option. Each rock face seems to have a story and our guide is only too eager to impart tales of the bays and caves of the West Coast. Set beside La Cueva Bonita, the ‘beautiful cave’, and the aptly named La Cueva Colorada, ‘the colourful cave’, is a bay, cave and fishing village all in one. ‘The Pirate Bay’, locally known as the Porís de Candelaría has its name for a reason. Once used by pirates and smugglers, as well as a source of water in times of drought, it is now frequented by fishermen at weekends, who have built a scattering of huts into the rock crevace. trips to those places can be booket over www.lapalmatour.com
Further on we pass the expansive stony beach of La Veta, the tiny bay of Tinizara and the popular port of Puntagorda, with it’s own natural rock pools. Each cove has it’s own characteristics, tucked away below imposing cliffs, forests and banana plantations.
The further North we go, the more pronounced the volcanic strata, gleaming bright red, and way above the Observatory of El Roque de Los Muchachos twinkles in the sunlight. It seems that whales and dolphins are only a small part of the marvels to be seen on this side of the Atlantic.
You can book youre experience under: https://www.oceanexplorer.es/en/excursion-flipper
Tazacorte La Palma