Looking for a trip this Summer?
Gran Canaria is one of the islands in the
With Gran Canaria it’s really a question of knowing where to start but my advice is to start at the Yumbro centre on your first night and take a look around. Find a place that suits you and use it as a base to explore all the other attractions this gay paradise has to offer. There are around 40 bars in this one area alone and they are as varied as they are many. There is also an international feel to the place with English, Welsh, German and Dutch run bars working along side the Canarian and Spanish ones. For something camp try the La Belle show bar or Ricky’s cabaret bar. For leather lovers you can choose between Contact (a small bar) or Construction. If you like bears then you can’t miss Barenhohle, for waiters in thongs you’ve got Fiction, for Country and Western you have Dolly’s Bar and when you need to sit quietly and get over all of that you have Hollywood, a place to chat and chill.
Phew! And that’s just some of them! Many of these stay open late and the crowd spills out on to the street. The Yumbo Centre is built on several levels and many guys start of at ground level and eventually work their way up to the top one as the night goes on. Many of these bars also have darkrooms for anonymous and quick sex and specific cruising areas. If you’re not sure what to expect then a general rule of thumb is: if there’s camouflage netting, dark lights and guys with mustaches hanging near a door then don’t go in unless you know what you’re doing. To find the younger set just wander the levels until you see the kind of guys you’re looking for and then try that place. As it’s mainly warm over there in the evenings a lot of cruising happens outside the bars as well as inside and most have an outdoor terrace. You’re safe in the crowds, taxis pull up outside the Yumbro regularly through the night and bar prices aren’t expensive so it really is a cool place to be for a vacation.
For a night of dancing you have Heaven (the same owners as the famous Heaven in London) which is open from 1.00 a.m. to 7.00 a.m. and Mantrix which starts at around 2.00 in the morning and goes on until… whenever.
But there’s more to Canaria than the night life. In fact, if you stay at one of the gay resorts or apartment complexes you’ll be tempted to go nowhere else. All of these places have pools, some have saunas and Jacuzzis too and in general the guys who stay at them are friendly and hot. (He says from experience.) You can stay at a general hotel or ‘gay friendly’ one of course and these may be cheaper but the reception you get and the safety you feel at an exclusively gay resort can’t be beaten.
Update: Contact is now closed down. We also found a great site to find updated information in Gran Canaria:
There is static general information section and then a changing news or info story below that (which is updated between 2 and 5 times a day). However, if you look at the categories in the sidebar, you will see there’s a wide range of categories with tons more stuff attached (see – for example – the Gay Pride category) and the event calendar has specific dates in it linked to items.
I’m a gay man who lives in GC, and the whole point of starting the site was to try and make sure there was something up to date available. –Owner of GayMenGC.com.
Other Useful links
owen100.com/gay.html for good general and specific information on Gran Canaria.
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