The Mala Coast walk is fairly level, about 2 – 3 hours and is well marked. It is mostly a coastal path with a small section through the back streets of the village of Mala.
Directions
Pick up The LZ-1 out of Arrecife and follow it all points north heading for Orzola. Take the turning for Guatiza, through the village, past the Cactus Garden and into the next village of Mala. Just past the Centro de Salud (health Centre) on the right, take the turning right on to Calle el Rostro. You pass Restaurante Arepera Jojoto y Millo on the right. Follow the lane out of the village and take the first dirt track on the left, Calle Punta del Pasito. I park on the side of the track, but make sure you are not in anyones way.
Click on the map image above to open a Google map of the area in a new tab.
The Walk
Head out east along the dirt track heading towards the sea. Stay on the main track until it takes a sharp right turn parallel to the coast. Here we want to take the sand track that heads directly to the sea, turning left on to the coastal path. You now have the sea on your right shoulder as you head north.
There is usually a stiff breeze blowing and this rocky coastline make for some impressive waves. In a few places as the lava poured into the sea, tubes and small caverns were left behind creating blow holes.
The path joins the dirt track Calle el Cangrejo at Punta La Pared. Here we want to head left along the track heading towards Mala village. I then take Calle Chalana (which is more of a path than a road) and then left on to Calle la Mareteja, which heads back out of the village along a sandy road.
The track passes some small holdings and some old sand extraction workings, before dropping back on to Calle Punta del Pasito where we parked the car.
If you look carefully in and amongst the sand dunes you might find something like this…
Fossil bee cells, attributable to the ichnospecies Palmiraichnus castellanosi, are recorded from the Pleistocene and Holocene of the easternmost Canary Islands. Cells bear a chamber with internal smooth lining, spiral closure, and an antechamber.
Mala Coast – History
To read more on the history of Mala and the surrounding area you can checkout this history site.
The site is in Spanish, so if it helps I have made an attempt to summarise some of the islands salient historical events in the History section.
Other walks in this area are:
- Presa de Mala
- Los Cocoteros – Charco del Palo
- Punta la Pared – Arrieta