Welcome to Playa del Cura

For watersports and swimming it is best to head for the white, sandy Amadores beach across the bay, where the whole gamut of fun in the sun from water-skiing to scuba diving is available. Other sporting facilities like tennis and squash are to be found in the vicinity, especially in nearby Puerto Rico, which is well-supplied with amenities, including water parks, amusement parks and mini-golf. Playa del Cura is well situated on the tourist route for excursions to the capital, Las Palmas, or visits to other parts of Gran Canaria.

Spanish is the official language, but English is widely understood in areas frequented by tourists. Catalan, Galician and Basque are spoken in the relevant areas.

Spain's official currency is the Euro (EUR). One Euro is divided into 100 cents. Money can be exchanged at bureaux de change and major hotels, but banks give the best rates. All major credit cards and travellers cheques are widely accepted at most hotels, restaurants, and shops. ATMs are widespread and are generally the cheapest and most convenient method of obtaining money.

Playa del Cura is built on steep cliffs, therefore not suited to the elderly or those with difficulty walking. Families with teenagers may find entertainment is limited for this age group. Swimmers and bathers should be wary of the strong currents off both of Playa del Cura's beaches.

Those in search of all-night clubbing and pubbing will have to take the 10-minute hop by bus or taxi across to Puerto Rico to satisfy their craving, but those looking for more relaxed evenings will be well catered for in one of Playa del Cura's bars. There are several fun pubs, like Pio Pio on Tauro beach, which offers open house jam sessions on Sunday evenings, or the Irish bar, Old Brouge, and its counterpart Welsh bar, Fleur de Lys, both on the upper level of the commercial centre. Several of the larger hotels offer their own entertainment, which is open to non-guests.

Playa del Cura offers a fairly good choice of restaurants, mostly situated in the commercial centre. There are seafood restaurants with excellent fish dishes, as well as other food styles on offer. Bistro 22 is perhaps the best known restaurant in Playa del Cura, as is the popular Guantanamo Canarian restaurant.

The commercial centre of Playa Del Cura is a few hundred yards from the beach, its anchor store being a large Spar supermarket with in-store bakery, which stocks all requirements for vacationers. There are a few gift and souvenir stores. For more serious shopping, however, visitors can take a bus or taxi to nearby Puerto Rico where it is possible to buy literally anything and everything at three huge shopping malls, including the sought after duty-free electrical goods, photographic equipment and perfumes.

Local time is GMT +1 (GMT +2 between the last Sunday in March and the Saturday before the last Sunday in October). The Canary Islands: GMT (GMT +1 in summer).