The Best Golf Courses in Canary Islands

There is a particular kind of golf you can only play in the Canary Islands: a tee shot framed by black volcanic rock, the Atlantic glittering below, and the warm, dry light of an archipelago that sits closer to the Sahara than to mainland Spain. This is golf with a sense of place — sculpted from old lava flows, edged with palms and bougainvillea, and playable on the very days when the courses back home are shut for winter.

What makes the islands special is range. Within a short hop you can move from the manicured resort fairways of southern Tenerife to the windswept, links-like spaces of Fuerteventura, the desert drama of Gran Canaria’s Maspalomas, and the vertiginous clifftop holes of La Gomera. We know these courses intimately, and we build each trip around the ones that will most reward your game.

No island offers more, or more variety, than Tenerife. The sun-soaked south is the natural base — Costa Adeje and Golf del Sur put a cluster of contrasting courses within minutes of one another, and the choice of hotel sets the tone of the trip. Stay at the polished Iberostar Bouganville Playa or the design-led Royal Garden Villas for resort ease, the elegant Hotel Suite Villa Maria in Adeje for villa-style seclusion, or the Hotel Dreams Jardin Tropical for ocean-front comfort close to the first tee.

Golf del Sur, the home course of the 1881 Tenerife Madrigueras Golf Hotel, is the island’s most characterful test — its fairways threaded between jet-black volcanic bunkers, with the Atlantic and the islet of La Gomera on the horizon. For something quite different, head to the lush, green north and the Melia Hacienda del Conde at Buenavista, a Seve-influenced course laid along the cliffs beneath the Teno mountains, where the air is cooler and the views are extraordinary.

Gran Canaria gives you two golfing worlds in one island. Down at Maspalomas, the fairways run alongside the famous dunes in a setting that feels genuinely desert-edged — sun-baked, dramatic and reliably warm. The Lopesan Costa Meloneras at Meloneras is the natural luxury base here, a grand resort within reach of several southern courses and the long beaches that bookend a round.

Climb a little and the mood changes entirely. The Salobre Hotel Resort & Serenity sits above the coast amid raw volcanic ridges, with golf that plays through ravines and elevation changes you simply won’t find at sea level — a more strategic, shot-shaping test for golfers who like to think their way round. The contrast between the dune courses below and the mountain golf above makes Gran Canaria one of the most rewarding islands to play over several days.

For golfers who relish the elements, Fuerteventura is a revelation. The island’s open, sandy landscape and steady trade winds give the golf a links-like honesty — you must flight the ball, read the wind and earn your score. The Sheraton Fuerteventura Beach, Golf and Spa Resort on the Caleta de Fuste coast and the refined Elba Palace Golf and Vital Hotel both place you directly beside the fairways, with the beach and spa waiting at the end of the day.

La Gomera, reached by a short ferry from Tenerife, is the archipelago’s best-kept secret. The course at Hotel Jardin Tecina tumbles across a clifftop plateau high above the ocean, with holes that play to the very edge of the land — one of the most spectacular settings in European golf, and a fitting centrepiece for the connoisseur’s island-hopping trip.

The beauty of the Canaries is how easily the islands combine. A classic itinerary might pair the resort golf of southern Tenerife with a ferry crossing to clifftop La Gomera, or twin Gran Canaria’s dune and mountain courses across a single relaxed week. From Kumara Serenoa at Maspalomas to the green north of Tenerife, we hand-pick the hotels and sequence the tee times so each course is played at its best.

Tailor-made trips with us start from £165 per person, and every element — flights, transfers, tee times and hotels — is arranged around the way you like to play and travel. We match the courses to your handicap and your taste, balance golf with the islands’ food, light and coastline, and take care of the detail so you arrive ready to enjoy it.