SAN ANTONIO VOLCANO

Its vast, deep, circular, black crater, born in 1677-1678 from an eruption, is recognizable. At its feet, on the black sand, grow the vines that produce the teneguía wine and malvasia of La Palma. After a short visit to the visitors' centre, where you can watch a film about volcanoes in Italian, German and Spanish, you reach the crater. The place is quite touristy and there can be a lot of people, but it's very impressive. A path climbs up to the crater, which peaks at 657 m, and goes around it. The edges are particularly windy. On the inner slopes, black is mixed with reddish and yellowish hues with sulphur deposits in places. In the heart of the crater there are many trees. From the southern lip of San Antonio, the view plunges down to its small neighbour, the Teneguía volcano, with its wine-red crests. In the background you can see the southern tip of the island, the lighthouse and the salt works. Beyond the point, the sea is clearly cut in two by a straight line, almost north-south, which extends the elongated silhouette of the island into the ocean: to the west the sea is smooth and on the other side its surface is mushy. In the distance, El Hierro, La Gomera and the silhouette of La Fortaleza and, if the sky is clear, Tenerife and the Teide.

The interpretation centre offers video projections, photo exhibits and various information about the volcano.

An excursion to the edge of the San Antonio volcano is also possible on camelback.