Roque de Garachico

Stand on the Garachico seafront and the rock is straight ahead: a dark wedge alone in the Atlantic 300 metres out, its walls dropping almost vertically into the water. At 77 metres it is roughly the height of a 25-storey tower block, and with nothing else offshore to measure it against, it looks bigger. Swell breaks white around its base, and seabirds ride the air along its cliffs.

The islet has been protected since 1987 and is a sight for the shore. The town sits right behind the view, so seeing it takes a walk to the waterfront and nothing more. Even on a wet day, with cloud down over the north coast, the silhouette holds.

• The rock is seen from the shore: the islet is a protected natural monument lying 300 metres out to sea.
• Public toilets stand about 740 m away in a straight line.
• There is no drinking water close by, so bring your own.
• Information boards for El Caletón and the PR-TF 43 trail stand about 750 m away, if you want to add a walk.
• The north coast catches the trade-wind cloud, and the rock can sit under grey sky or rain while other parts of the island are sunny.

The rock is seen from the Garachico waterfront, so the approach ends in town. Two car parks lie about 520 and 540 metres from the rock in a straight line, one of them by the football ground (Campo de Fútbol); from either, you walk down to the seafront for the view.

The nearest bus stops, Garachico and La Piscina, are about 580 metres away. Arriving by bus, you see the rock through the window as the road runs along the coast.

Best: a clear late afternoon with a calm sea.

Avoid: days of heavy swell and days of low cloud.

The late sun comes in from the west and picks out the texture of the walls, while the north coast faces the open Atlantic, takes its biggest swell in winter and often sits under trade-wind cloud that flattens the whole scene to grey.

Roque de Garachico is a natural monument of Spain and a Natura 2000 site, protected since 1987. The islet lies 300 metres offshore with nearly vertical walls; it is there to be seen from the coast, and its cliffs are left to the seabirds.