Sailing holidays around the Canary islands | Offshore Yacht Charter

The Canary Islands are a beautiful archipelago in the Atlantic ocean. West from the Sahara and only a 3 hours flight from London. Sailing holidays around the Canary Islands offer all the ingredients for a fantastic sailing voyage:

– Winter sun with a delightful temperature between 22 and 28 degrees. Celsius.
– Crystal clear bleu water and a long and slow ocean swell.
– A very high chance of seeing whales and dolphins.
– A constant ‘trade wind’, which accelerates in certain areas for extra spectacular sailing.
– Varied landscapes, from rugged volcanic ridges to subtropical forests.
– The Spanish atmosphere and lifestyle, but then even more relaxed.

In short, Sailing holidays around the Canary Islands are a very good alternative for sailing holidays in the Caribbean. Because the best sailing period is at the end of winter, it could also be a very nice alternative to a winter sports holiday, but instead with sun guaranteed! Perfect for getting vitamin D as well as vitamin Sea 😊.

Island hopping around the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands consist of seven large inhabited islands (La Palma, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Gomera, Gran Canaria and Tenerife) and a few more small islands near Lanzarote. There is mass tourism on the island of Tenerife, but luckily we can easily sail around that part. The islands further away from Tenerife, which don’t have their own airport, have much less tourism and especially the islands of La Gomera and El Hierro are unprecedentedly beautiful islands.

The beauty of the islands come from its volcanic origin, with steep cliffs, green slopes, palm trees, cacti, white villages and the nice temperature. According to legend, they are the peaks of Atlantis. The Western Isles (Ell Hierro, La Palma and la Gomera) are green with black lava beaches, while the eastern islands (Fuerteventura and Lanzarote) are dry with wide beaches covered with Sahara sand.

In the middle of the islands are high mountains of volcanic origin. Next to the deep and wide canyons (Barrancos) lie some dense forests with beautiful hiking trails. On the island of La Palma the rare ‘Dragon blood tree’ can be found, which can become three thousand years old and has a blood red resin. La Gomera is known for banana trees, laurel forests and old heather trees, which can grow up to 15 meters high.

the island of Tenerife has the highest mountain in Spain, El Teide, with a height of 3718 meters. The Atlantic Ocean is at its deepest between the islands of Tenerife and La Palma with a spectacular 3500 meters. Gran Canaria has the characteristics of all the islands combined, in the north green vegatation and in the south the stunning sand dunes of Las Maspalomas.

Sailing yacht charter at the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are ideal to explore with a sailing yacht, due to its many islands. All islands now have marinas. Some islands/ports lie further apart, but fortunately, the Cherokee is a fast and comfortable cruiser. Therefore al islands can be reached in a day trip. Our sailing voyages are a nice balance between travelling, culture and relaxation. We’ll be in a harbor or anchor every night. The Spanish rhythm starts and ends a bit later than the northern European, so usually there is a nice terrace to be found in the evening. And last but not least, at the end of the afternoon ‘Tapas’ is served with the unique ‘Mojo’ sauce.

On our ‘category C’ sailing holidays there will also be time for sightseeing. This means that the vessel will stay a day in a harbor and if you like, you can explore the island.

The end of winter/early spring is the ideal season for sailing holidays around the Canary Islands. The beautiful weather in that period is mainly caused by a combination of the warm Gulf Stream and the northeast trade winds. This wind provides moist air for the vegetation of the islands and moderates the temperature, while the Gulf Stream ensures that the temperature does not drop too much. This subtropical climate is also called ‘eternal spring’.

A brief history

The Canary Islands owe their name not to the yellow canary, but from the Latin word ‘canis’, which means dog. The archipelago was already known to the Romans and it is thought that they came up with the name due to the large groups of dogs that used to exist on the islands.

The original inhabitants were the Guanchen. These were large, solidly built people with dark skin, blond hair and blue eyes. In order to communicate at a great distance, the Guanchen had developed a flute language, which is still known by a few inhabitants. It is likely that the Phoenicians were already trading from Cadiz around 1000 BC.

The islands of Lanzarote and El Hierro were conquered by the Spanish in 1402. Columbus used Las Palmas and La Gomera for repairs and for taking in drinking water during his journey in 1492. He returned a few more times to the island of La Gomera because he had made an important discovery, Beatriz de Bobadilla. Unfortunately, Beatriz later fell for the advances of Alonso Fernandez de Lugo, the conqueror of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. From then on, the islands became an ideal starting point to sail to the new world. In the following years, the islands were regularly plundered by Dutch, French, Arab and English sea voyages.

In 1599, the Dutch Admiral van der Does conquered Gran Canaria with more than 80 ships and 8000 soldiers and luted San Sebastian on La Gomera. During the many wars, the English unsuccessfully sent entire squadrons to the islands. This came to an end in 1797 when the English fleet was defeated under Admiral Nelson near Tenerife where he lost his arm.

To sail with us to the Canary islands, take a look at our winter sailing holiday schedule. If you book early, you can fly at low costs!