Playa de las Arenas Blancas

El Hierro


Curled into the isolated western end of El Golfo, just off the HI500 6.5km northwest of Sabinosa, this spectacularly positioned swathe of blonde sand melts into volcanic rock at the water's edge. It's a fantastic spot – wild and beautiful and with views sprawling all across El Golfo – but take care with the dangerous currents if you're swimming.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby El Hierro attractions

1. Mirador de Bascos

0.85 MILES

Around 500m north of El Sabinar, this lookout point looms over the western end of El Golfo but is often veiled in cloud and was off-limits to visitors at…

2. El Sabinar

1.25 MILES

Sculpted by nature into wild shapes that look frozen in time, the beautiful and surreal wind-twisted sabinas (juniper trees) that grow across the hillside…

3. Pozo de la Salud

1.28 MILES

El Hierro's famed Pozo de la Salud (Well of Health) was long known for miraculously healing local cattle, but has been recognised for its mineral-rich…

4. Playa del Verodal

2.24 MILES

At the far western end of the island, this curious volcanic red-sand beach, 1km off the HI500 (and signposted), backs up to a majestic rock cliff. It's…

5. Ermita de Nuestra Señora de los Reyes

2.52 MILES

Made all the more intriguing by the long history and strong tradition behind it, this whitewashed, rust-roofed, pine-fringed 18th-century chapel conceals…

6. Faro de Orchilla

4.43 MILES

Though robbed of its status as Meridiano Cero by the UK's Greenwich in 1885, the concrete lighthouse that marks the most southwesterly point in Spain…

7. Bodega Soterana

4.89 MILES

While this expertly run bodega on the western edge of Los Llanillos may be a newcomer on El Hierro's blossoming wine scene, its volcanic-soil vines date…

8. Charco Azul

5.02 MILES

Worked into its distinctive form by ancient lava flows and the pounding Atlantic waves, the 'Blue Pond' is a pristine natural cove with calm natural…