El Hierro Island Puerto de la Estaca, Canary Islands
27
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Atlas Ocean Voyages (1 Cruises)
Windstar Cruises (22 Cruises)
Wind Spirit
22 Cruises
| 6 January | 11 days | Round-trip from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain | |
| 16 January | 11 days | Round-trip from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain |
| 22 October | 29 days | One-way from Tarragona to Santa Cruz de Tenerife | |
| 31 October | 20 days | One-way from Malaga to Santa Cruz de Tenerife |
Frequently Asked Questions
At Puerto de la Estaca, a small pier backed by dark volcanic slopes on the island's east coast. There is no terminal and no row of shops — just a quay, the mountain and the Atlantic.
Not really. Everything is done by tour or taxi. Valverde, the capital, is about nine kilometres away on a switchback road, roughly twenty minutes.
Valverde plus the Mirador de la Peña is the fullest outing in that window. If you can only pick one stop, take the mirador: the view over the El Golfo depression is the island's strongest image.
A viewpoint designed by César Manrique, the artist who shaped so much Canarian architecture. Volcanic stone, wide windows, planting built into the structure, and below it the vast El Golfo bowl of vineyards and orchards running down to the ocean. The on-site restaurant serves Canarian cooking built around fish.
Because it turns its back on the sea. Perched on the mountainside, it is the only Canarian capital that is not coastal. Two thousand residents, the eighteenth-century church of Santa María de la Concepción, the Casa de las Quinteras ethnographic centre, and clouds drifting through the lanes.
The sacred tree of the Bimbaches, the island's first inhabitants. Its leaves caught moisture from the trade winds — the so-called horizontal rain — and supplied the whole population with water. A hurricane felled the original in the seventeenth century; a laurel replanted in 1949 keeps the legend alive, with an interpretation centre on site.
La Restinga in the south ranks among the archipelago's best dive sites: rays, groupers, morays, remarkably intact seabeds. Fitting a scuba dive into a port call is tight; snorkelling from shore is more realistic, and the village is worth visiting for the fresh fish alone.
Only moderately. Winding roads and long transfers tire small children, and there is no classic sandy beach near the port. With teenagers who like nature and hiking, it is a different story.
The euro and Spanish. English is not widely spoken outside tourist sites — this is the most remote of the Canaries and tourism stays low-key. Carry some cash, as smaller businesses do not all take cards.
Almost any time of year; the Canaries have very small temperature swings. The highlands are often in cloud, including in summer, while the coast stays clear. Bring an extra layer if you head up to Valverde or the Garoé.
