Jameos del Agua

At the bottom of the stairs the roof closes over a still salt lake, and the pale specks on the dark rock under the water are blind squat lobsters, Munidopsis polymorpha, found nowhere else. Each is hardly a centimetre long, about the size of a fingernail. They are sensitive to noise, light and metal, which is why coins in the water are banned.

Further on, the roof of the lava tube has fallen in, and Manrique built into the gap: an emerald-green pool, gardens and terraces with plenty of places to sit, and an auditorium set inside the cave itself. That gap is what the Guanche word jameo means, a large opening where the roof of a lava tube has collapsed. There are at least three here, Jameo Chico, Jameo Grande and Jameo la Cazuela. The tube they belong to runs 6 km from Monte Corona, at least 1.5 km of it below the sea.

• The visit runs on stairs down into the caves and back up. Anyone who is not on foot will not get round.
• The Casa de los Volcanes, the volcanology museum, takes a separate ticket. Ask for it at the entrance if you want it.
• Tickets can be bought online in advance, which saves time at the entrance.
• Food and drink are served on site, and cards and contactless payments are accepted.
• Allow around an hour at a relaxed pace, longer if you sit out in the gardens.

Jameos del Agua lies on the coast road between Arrieta and Órzola in the north-east of Lanzarote, close to Punta Mujeres. Most people arrive by car. The free car park sits about 50 m from the site on asphalt, so there is no walk to speak of, but it fills up quickly once the tour buses arrive. Free street parking is the fallback.

A bus stop named Jameos del Agua is about 60 m away. Cueva de los Verdes, further along the same lava tube, has its own car park about 700 m away, and the two pair easily in one trip.

Best: right at opening time, before the tour buses arrive.

Avoid: turning up after the coaches are in, when the car park has filled and the stairs and terraces crowd.

The lake is best seen quiet, and the early slot gives you both the parking and the space. The caves stay shaded whatever the weather outside, which makes them a good stop on a hot day; the gardens and the pool terrace are open to the sky.

Throwing coins into the lake is forbidden. The blind squat lobsters are sensitive to metal oxides, which can kill them. They react to noise and light as well, so keep your voice down and your flash off at the water's edge.

The caves belong to the lava tube of Monte Corona, a protected natural monument, declared a site of scientific interest in 1994 and classed as an ecologically fragile area.