El Golfo and the green lagoon

El Golfo is situated at the south-west end of the island. Itself a small fishing village, it has one big attraction – the volcano crater with the green lagoon.

The crater in itself is fascinating enough – parking at the shop and restaurant just outside the village, you walk along a narrow path with a handrail on one side and the rock face on the other until you reach a natural viewing platform.

At this point you are in the crater – only half of it is missing, wash away by the Atlantic ocean.

Looking landwards the remaining side of the volcano towers above you, black and red layers of dried lava and other rocks make for a stunning view. It is not hard to imagine the power that this volcano once had.

But that is not all – down below is the green lagoon, a naturally formed pool of water that shines bright green. The effect is caused by minerals left over from the volcano’s active days. The water flows in from the ocean by an underground channel and mixes with these minerals to give it it’s green colour.

On the way back to the car park you can pick up a piece of green rock for a reasonable price from one of the collectors’ tables – often unmanned with just a collecting tin to put your money in.

For more elaborate souvenirs there is the shop at the car park, as well as Teguise market.

About Graham

Graham Tappenden is a British ex-pat who first came to Germany as a placement student in 1993, returning in 1995 to live there permanently. He has been writing for AllThingsGerman.net since 2006. When not writing blog posts or freelancing for the Oberurseler Woche and other publications he works as a self-employed IT consultant and online community manager. In 2016 he gained German citizenship.

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  1. El Golfo und die grüne Lagune…

    El Golfo liegt im südwestlichen Teil der Insel. El Golfo selbst ist ein kleines Fischerdorf, das eine große Attraktion hat – den Vulkankrater mit der grünen Lagune.
    Der Krater selbst ist faszinierend – man parkt vor dem Souvenirladen mit Restaurant etw…

  2. […] to the Laguna Verde in Bolivia, and when I first heard about it I imagined something similar to El Golfo on […]

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