Playa de Santa Catalina

La Gomera


Backed by rippling banana plantations and feeling a little abandoned, Hermigua's rocky black beach is usually a bit too rough for swimming (the odd surfer pops by for a wave or two), but it does have a natural saltwater pool, El Pescante, at its eastern end (though this was officially off-limits at research time).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby La Gomera attractions

1. Playa de la Caleta

0.92 MILES

The best beach in the Hermigua area, 5km northeast of town, Playa de la Caleta is one of northern La Gomera's prettiest black-pebble beaches. Framed by…

2. Iglesia de la Encarnación

1.09 MILES

The town's central warm-yellow church dates back to the 17th century but wasn't completed until the mid-20th, partly due to the fact that the original…

3. Iglesia de San Marcos

1.1 MILES

The elegant neo-Gothic Iglesia de San Marcos dominates Agulo's centre; built in 1912 on the site of a 17th-century chapel, it’s a simple grey-and-white…

4. Mirador de Abrante

1.37 MILES

High above little Agulo, enjoying sprawling panoramas across the ocean to Tenerife, this Fred-Olsen-owned lookout point revolves around a spine-tingling…

5. Museo Etnográfico de La Gomera

1.69 MILES

Housed in a handsome 20th-century building with maroon trim, this two-storey ethnographic museum explores the island's natural resources and ecosystems…

6. Convento de Santo Domingo

2.07 MILES

At the heart of Hermigua's original village, just off Plaza Victoriano Darias Montesinos, this 16th-century church and monastery contains an intricately…

7. Parque Etnográfico Los Telares

2.11 MILES

A reconstructed 19th-century gofio (roasted Canarian grain) mill sits at the heart of this multifaceted private ethnographic centre, which also takes in a…

8. Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Lourdes

4.56 MILES

A 1.7km walk (signposted) southwest from El Cedro along the official national-park Route 2, this small, white forest chapel was founded in 1935 by…