Three Canary Islands, six rounds, eight days: the island-hopping circuit that works

The Canary Islands get dismissed as a package-holiday destination by golfers who should know better. The dismissal usually comes from someone who flew into Tenerife South, stayed in a Playa de las Americas hotel, and played Golf Las Americas twice. That's a fine week but it's not the Canaries — it's a resort attached to the Canaries.

The island-hopping circuit I've put together in the last three years is something different: it uses the Canaries' best courses across three islands, connects them with inter-island flights that cost €30 to €70 each way, and produces an eight-day trip with genuine variety. Still affordable. Still sunny in November. Increasingly surprising.

**Tenerife: Buenavista and Golf Costa Adeje**

Three nights Tenerife, based in the north at a Puerto de la Cruz hotel rather than the south. Buenavista del Norte Golf Club is the reason for this: a Severiano Ballesteros design in the northwest of the island, cut into the cliffs above the Atlantic, with views from the back nine that belong in a landscape photography exhibition. Green fee €85. Practically unknown outside of Canarian golf circles.

Golf Costa Adeje on the south side (forty-five minutes by hire car) provides the more traditional resort experience — 27 holes, well-maintained, green fee €100, good facilities. We play it as the second Tenerife round, afternoon start.

**Gran Canaria: Anfi Tauro and Maspalomas**

The inter-island flight from Tenerife North (TFN) to Gran Canaria Las Palmas (LPA) takes twenty-five minutes with Binter Canarias. Book as luggage freight for the bags — seamless, €15 per bag.

Two nights Gran Canaria, based in Meloneras near Maspalomas. Anfi Tauro Golf Club is the Canarian course I recommend most enthusiastically to clients who've only been to Tenerife — a Robert Trent Jones Sr design from 1998, set in a dramatic ravine on the west coast with ocean views from the upper holes and barranco topography unlike anything in the Algarve. Green fee €110.

Real Club de Golf Las Palmas is the other round — oldest golf club in Spain, founded 1891, a course of historic character in the pine forest of the north. Green fee €130. Two very different experiences on one small island.

**Lanzarote: Golf Costa Teguise**

Another twenty-five minute inter-island flight to Lanzarote. The volcanic landscape here is unlike anywhere else in the Canaries — black lava fields, stark and dramatic, César Manrique architecture, a colour palette of ochre, black, and deep blue that looks like nowhere else on earth.

Golf Costa Teguise is the only proper course on Lanzarote — 27 holes, a John Harris design from 1978, playing through volcanic terrain that makes divot-replacement an interesting proposition. Green fee €65. The course itself is not going to compete with Fancourt or Monte Rei, but it's good, characterful, and embedded in a landscape that makes the round memorable regardless of scoring.

Two nights Lanzarote — stay in Arrieta or Puerto del Carmen rather than the resort strip. The island rewards exploration more than any other Canary Island.

**The economics**

Eight nights across three islands, three inter-island flights, all green fees, hire car on each island: approximately £1,600 to £1,900 per person. Add the Gatwick or Manchester flight to Tenerife and return from Lanzarote (under £200 each way with easyJet or Jet2): total trip under £2,400.

That's the Canary Islands' unspoken advantage. You get a multi-destination itinerary at a price that beats almost any single-country golf trip to Portugal or Spain.

**November through February**

The Canaries sit at 28°N latitude — close to the Tropic of Cancer — and maintain 18–23°C year-round. The winter months are the sweet spot: stable, dry, and 30% cheaper than summer. Groups of twelve or more get green fee reductions at every course mentioned. The golf is busiest in January and February; book two months in advance for those months.