Telamon Shipwreck

The wreck shows from the coast road before you reach it: a rust-brown hull sitting just off the shore, its frame twisted and holed by more than four decades of salt and swell. It is visible even from a passing bus.

From the water's edge the scale lands. This was a working cargo ship, built in Scotland in 1953, towed into this bay with a leak and left where it grounded. Late in the day the low sun throws hard shadows through the broken plating, and that is the light for photographs. The water around the hull holds fish, barracuda among them.

• No toilets and no drinking water at the wreck or nearby — bring water, especially on a hot day.
• The shore has no shade; in the middle of the day bring a hat and sunscreen.
• A zoom lens or binoculars help: the hull sits offshore and going aboard is off-limits.
• The visit is a stop to look and photograph, easy to fit into a trip along the coast between Arrecife and Costa Teguise.
• The wreck is within reach by bicycle from Costa Teguise.

The ship is easy to spot from the road between Arrecife and Costa Teguise; it shows from a bus window. Two parking areas lie about 300 m from the wreck in a straight line, and the nearest bus stop, Los Mármoles, is about 270 m away. From either, the last stretch is on foot to the shore, where the hull comes into view across the water. Cycling out from Costa Teguise is another way in.

Best: late afternoon into sunset. Avoid: the middle of a hot day. Low evening light throws hard shadows across the twisted frame and warms the rust, while at midday the bare shore offers no shade and the light falls flat on the hull.

Going out to the Telamon and climbing aboard is prohibited. People do reach it by jet ski, and some climb onto the upper deck, but the hull is rusted through, the edges are sharp and the ship stands in the sea. The place to see it from is the shore.