Playa del Ingles Beach

Walk south along the waterline and the hotel blocks fall behind you. The sand carries on towards Maspalomas Beach, and the Maspalomas Dunes rise to the south of the resort. The whole stretch down to Maspalomas comes to around 10,000 steps, and the dunes are what you end up photographing.

Early in the morning the beach is quiet and the sunbeds are being washed down before the day starts. Later it is a busy resort beach, with cafés, bars, boat trips and mini golf just back from the sand. Each year in the second week of May the resort hosts one of the largest Pride festivals in Europe, centred on the Yumbo Centrum shopping centre.

• No drinking water point nearby — bring water with you.
• The nearest public toilet, about 280 m away, charges a fee; another stands about 490 m away.
• The sand gives way to stones in places; sandals or water shoes help.
• The beach has no natural shade and the wind picks up on some days, so bring sun cover and a layer.
• Towards Maspalomas, the stretch around beach hut 7 is a long-established gay beach.

An asphalt car park sits about 115 m away, with a second one about 250 m away. Two bus stops lie about 125 m and 145 m away. A map board stands about 135 m away, and an information point on the restoration of the dune system about 270 m away. From there you are on open sand: turn south and the beach leads on towards Maspalomas Beach and the dunes.

Best: early morning, and the winter months.

Avoid: the middle of a summer day, and the second week of May if you want a quiet stay.

The early hours are calm before the sunbeds fill, the bare sand gives no shade at midday, winter brings warm sun while northern Europe is cold, and Pride week fills the resort around the Yumbo Centrum.

The Maspalomas Dunes to the south of the resort are a protected nature reserve, and parts of the dune system are under environmental restoration. Keep to the marked paths through the dunes, stay out of fenced-off ground, and leave the sand and plants as they are.