Maspalomas or Playa del Ingles by bus from Las Palmas

I am living here in Gran Canaria, and am enjoying the accessibility this island offers with its public transport network. I have thus far been extremely impressed with its reliability and coverage. I use the bus everyday for general everyday purposes without any problems here in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. But even more impressively than that, I have been able to use the local bus to reach secluded hiking, to go to numerous beaches and also to visit a few wineries in the hills using the local bus which I think is pretty great (as well as unbelievably cheap and good for the environment etc etc). 

I would love to share some of what I have learned so far, to help those of you who might find the system a little confusing!

There are a multitude of options for getting down to the southern beaches from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. This blog will only address Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles, but I will be writing more on how to get to the other beaches, the airport and (much more importantly) up into the hills at a later point. 

The blue Global buses are the ones that are going to take you there, departing from San Telmo Bus Station just near Triana in Palmas de Gran Canaria. There are also services from Estacion Santa Catalina, nearer to Las Canteras, but I am going to focus on getting there from San Telmo Bus Station.

San Telmo Bus Station, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

If I can give you one tip about using the buses in Gran Canaria and one tip only, it would definitely be to download the guagua bus app. This app is really well put together, it is available in German, Spanish and English and it will give you all the information on bus timetables, maps, lines etc for both local yellow guagua and blue global buses. As long as you have an internet connection. Please see my blog on how to get the most out of the app.

My blog on the app: http://lasislascanaria.blogspot.com.es/2015_03_01_archive.html

Download the app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mydatafocus.GuaguaBus&hl=it

TO GET TO MASPALOMAS OR PLAYA DEL INGLES:

NOTE: discounted return tickets are available for weekend travel to the southern beaches until Puerto Rico, only if you are planning on going and returning on the weekend/public holidays from Las Palmas. For residents, there are also special discounted tickets for weekend travel to the south, as well as multi-stop passes. These tickets are available for purchase from the "bono" machines at San Telmo Bus Station. Please see the global website for more details: http://www.globalsu.es/es/tarjetas_magneticas.php

The best option by far is to get the blue Global directo bus from San Telmo Bus Station, the number 50 from platform 26 (Las Palmas - Faro Maspalomas). A regular paper ticket will cost you 6.15 euros each way, which you can pay directly to the bus driver. The bus is a direct service from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria which makes its first two stops in Playa del Ingles before making a few stops in Maspalomas and ending up at the main bus station there (Faro Maspalomas). It is by far the quickest and easiest way to get to either of these beach towns by bus. Expect the journey to take around 30-45 minutes. It leaves 5 minutes past the hour every hour from 0705 - 1705 most days, but make sure you check the timetables at the bus stops or online before travelling.

Timetable for number 50 global bus: http://www.globalsu.es/lineas/linea50.pdf

Note: bus timetables at the actual bus stops often do not display a timetable for Sundays (Domingos), but in my experience, it is usually just the same as the Saturday (Sabado) timetable.

The final stop, Faro Maspalomas

Screenshot taken from the guagua/global app

Stops in Playa del Inglés

Stops in Maspalomas

Of course, there are other options to get to these beach towns but beware that some of the local services stop at every single town, meaning your journey could take up to 2 hours or longer. The number 30 global bus from platform 24 at San Telmo Bus Station would be your next best bet, it has a few more services throughout the day, but also has a few more stops in its route so it will take a bit longer. The number 30 global bus originates at Estacion Santa Catalina before passing through San Telmo, so it is possibly an easier option for those staying out at Las Canteras who wish to get to Playa del Ingles or Maspalomas.


Timetable for the number 30 global bus: http://www.globalsu.es/lineas/linea30.pdf

NOTE: the departure times displayed on the bus timetables throughout Gran Canaria are always the times that the bus departs its original departure point. It doesn't matter which bus stop you are at, or how many stops down the line you are from the original depature point. If you are not at the original departure point and your bus doesn't arrive at the time displayed on the timetable, don't freak out.  It is on its way.