Thinking of going on holiday to La Palma soon. Anyone else been?????

[spaceboy]

That would be great Peter although I don't plan to go until next May. A lot of saving is needed first. The idea is to go as a family on a "summer" holiday with the intension of visiting the observatories, stargazing (specifically to tick omega centauri off my things to do before I die list! ) and anything else to keep the family interested in the idea of going out of season. This means finding an ideal place to stay that is in reach of both beaches, POI and dark locations. I have read a rental car is recommended and I would also look to hire a scope rather than settle for a smaller airline friendly scope.

Does anyone know if you are permitted to stargaze anywhere near the observatories at night or do you have to settle for more public locations?

[Stargazer McCabe]

While you can drive the public road across the island at any time, the turn off up to all the observatories is gated and shut at night to the public. You can get to the bottom of that final stretch, but not right up top. 

As I said in my post, we rented a large house on the dark side of the island about 6 miles from Tijarafe. We were at about 800 meters above sea level overlooking the coast and felt no need to travel to observe each night. 

If you want any contacts, as I said I know where you can get access to lots of properties of all sizes and where scopes can be rented for the week now as the main business one finds when googling Telescope rental has now stopped doing so...

[spaceboy]

Thanks @Stargazer McCabe I shall be in touch in the near future once I renew my passport

[Stargazer McCabe]

9 minutes ago, spaceboy said:

Thanks @Stargazer McCabe I shall be in touch in the near future once I renew my passport

That's an excellent starting point 

[newbie alert]

Just as a add on,I've not been to Tenerife  but I've done more or less the same thing in Gran canaria...we booked with Gauthier of astro tours GC..he collected us from our hotel...treated us to a drink of our choice then took us up to the dark site up the top of the mountain..the best dark skies I've ever witnessed so far..had 3 16 inch dobs setup for the whole party to look at various objects..knew the skies like the back of his hand with a deep astro knowledge..was fantastic with my 10 year old daughter as with everyone else..apologised for his accent but sounded like he was fluent in most languages...

Was that good I'm going back again this year...

[Iosife]

 I was planning our family trip to La Palma but I dont know much about this island. Were hoping to have fun at place were we can go hiking, surfing, and will offer us a wonderful scenery and I hope they have that. I've been reading this article about La Palma here in https://www.canaryislandsinfo.co.uk/la-palma/ but i really want to hear what your personal experience to this island. Thanks!
 

[knobby]

Sounds like an ideal place to slip a star adventurer mini in a camera bag ! It only takes up as much room as a lens.

[Mick J]

La Palma, I like to think the island is shaped like a wedge - thick end in the north with the observatories on the top. If you are in the south at sea level the beaches may be easier to get to, staying half way up the wedge you may be above the cloud but the Roc is still a twisty road away and the beach a twisty road in the other direction.  The walking is fun and can be steep, people are wonderful, roads are mostly empty and the sky stunning - avoid that moon if you can.............. thinking should go back.......

[melsmore]

La Palma trip Jan 2018 ....... Yeah, I want to go back too ......

[cletrac1922]

Hi Guys

You are always welcome to come down under

Lot of dark sky sites

Off the record, if you superposed Oz over Europe, Perth is London, Sydney is Moscow

Gives you an idea size this place

From Brisbane, where I live just outside off, is 1800kms to Melbourne via Sydney

Brisbane to Cairns is also 1800kms

Very little in between except for small coastal towns

Happy Viewing

John

 

[mcrowle]

This could be useful thread for me too, as I'm in the early stages of looking at a trip to La Palma.

I'm not a driver, so I've been looking at a guided trekking tour with Exodus (I've used them before for trips to Nepal, France, the Azores and Iceland). It's not cheap, but they use accommodation in different areas over the week, so I imagine at least some of those could suit dark sky viewing and photography. In any case there is one night of organised night sky viewing.

However, it would not be my first trip to La Palma. I joined two thoroughly enjoyable tours there in 1996 and 1997, guided by Dr Peter Cattermole. Not surprising, there were geological as well as astronomical themes. As well as having a guided tour of the William Herschel and Isaac Newton telescopes, we were fortunate enough to be in La Palma while Comet Hyakutake was at it's best . Along with a few others, I photographed it from the roof of the Hotel Maritimo in Santa Cruz. The second tour, in 1997 coincided with Hale Bopp, but it was past its best by then.

Regards, Mike

[mcrowle]

Ok, this is useless information but I just located what was the Hotel Maritimo (from my 1996 & 7 stays) via Googlemaps: the name is still visible in Street view, but the map now labels the building as a funeral home!