Patalavaca: the resort strip between Arguineguín and Anfi

By Terje Moy, editor · Published 25 October 2026

Patalavaca is a short, mostly residential and hotel strip on the coast between Arguineguín and Anfi del Mar. It has a 303 m beach, a walk of about half an hour from Arguineguín, and little else you need to know before you go: the shops and the market are in town.

Patalavaca is the stretch of coast between Arguineguín and Anfi del Mar. It is a place to sleep, swim and have lunch, not a place with a centre of its own: the fishing harbour, the big supermarket and the Tuesday market are all in Arguineguín, a short bus ride or a walk of roughly half an hour away. If you want a calm base with a beach on the doorstep and the town within reach, Patalavaca is a reasonable choice. If you want shops, bars and people on the street in the evening, you will be walking or taking the bus back to Arguineguín, or on to Puerto Rico.

The whole strip lies in the municipality of Mogán, like Arguineguín, Anfi and Puerto Rico. The council counts the beach as Playa de Patalavaca; the area behind it is what visitors mean by "Patalavaca".

What Patalavaca is like

It is a resort strip rather than a village. Hotels and apartment blocks stand above a rocky coast, with the beach as the one obvious public focus and the main road above it. The council's own description of the beach is short and telling: accessible, black sand, suitable for bathing, "numerous" restaurants. That is a fair summary of the whole place.

What it does not have, as far as the council lists go, is a market, a harbour or a nightlife scene. Those are Arguineguín's job. For anyone who finds the town busy on a Tuesday, that division is part of the appeal: you can dip in and retreat.

The beach in brief

Playa de Patalavaca is 303 metres of dark sand mixed with boulders, with calm water, toilets, showers, a lifeguard, sunbed hire and step-free access, according to Mogán's tourism page. The council also shows online sunbed booking. It is longer than the Anfi beach next door and darker than it.

Everything about sand, flags, jellyfish and shade is on the beach page: Patalavaca beach. One point worth repeating here: no beach in Mogán has a Blue Flag for 2026–27, so ignore older pages that say otherwise.

The main hotels

Two large hotels define the strip, and both are real, operating businesses.

• Radisson Blu Resort, Gran Canaria. Radisson lists 189 rooms and suites and a five-star category; its address is "La Verga s/n" in Arguineguín/Patalavaca, and it gives access to the Patalavaca and Amadores beaches. (Radisson also runs a separate, larger hotel in Puerto de Mogán, so check you have the right one when booking.)
• Sunwing Arguineguín. A 252-room, four-star seafront hotel run by the Nordic tour operator group behind Ving and Spies. The company that owns the building was sold in 2025, but the operator stays on under a long lease and the hotel still trades under the Sunwing name.

On the Global bus the order of stops is Casa Memo (Arguineguín), Sunwing, then Patalavaca, which tells you Sunwing sits on the Arguineguín side of the strip. Smaller apartment complexes fill the slopes between; for a comparison of what is on offer see the best hotels in Arguineguín and Patalavaca, and for the general picture where to stay in Arguineguín.

Eating and shopping

The beach has many restaurants and bars around it, in the council's words. Hours and menus change, so look at the board before you sit down. The Anfi resort next door lists its own restaurants on its site: Bella Pasta (Italian), La Posada (Tex-Mex), Tiki Bar, Mar de Tapas and a coffee corner, with hours that Anfi does not date. See Anfi del Mar.

For groceries, head into Arguineguín. The La Marea shopping centre on Calle Damasco has a Hiperdino supermarket open 08:30 to 22:00 every day, according to the centre's own site, with the other shops from 10:00. Shopping in Arguineguín covers fresh fish and local products, and the Tuesday market is the day's main event in town.

Walking between Patalavaca, Arguineguín and Anfi

The coast path from Arguineguín to Patalavaca is a stroll of roughly half an hour at an easy pace, with a few steps on the way. Continuing to Anfi adds more time and a first look at its heart-shaped island and marina (80 moorings, according to the council). The route is described in coastal walks from Arguineguín to Patalavaca and Anfi.

Walkers should keep to the shade and carry water: the UV index here is high all year, and the path is open to the sun.

Buses and the boat

Three Global lines call at Patalavaca: 91 (Las Palmas to Puerto de Mogán), 33 (Playa del Inglés to Puerto de Mogán) and 39 (Playa del Inglés to Playa del Cura). Line 91 also has a stop named "Patalavaca" on its page. From the airport, AENA lists the fare to Patalavaca on line 91 as €5.25, against €4.95 to Arguineguín (the AENA page is undated, so confirm at the stop). Times and the local quirks are in buses in and from Arguineguín.

The boat does not stop at Patalavaca. Líneas Salmón sails from Arguineguín to Anfi (€5 single, €8 return for an adult, according to Salmón's fare list; check the current timetable), and a short walk joins you to Patalavaca. More on routes in boats from Arguineguín.

By road, Puerto Rico is about 7 km from Arguineguín and takes roughly 11 minutes without traffic.

Who Patalavaca suits, and who should look elsewhere

It suits couples, older travellers and families who want a calm base and are happy to take a bus for variety. It suits people who like the idea of a resort hotel but not of a theme-park atmosphere. It is a poor fit if you want an authentic harbour town (that is Arguineguín) or a marina promenade with lots of evening choice (that is Puerto Rico). If Anfi's timeshare model interests you, read timeshare rights before you sign first.

Further along the coast to the west lie Tauro and Amadores, covered on their own pages.