Gay Maspalomas: The Trip We’d Happily Do Again

We may earn a commission if you book through the hotel link in this article.

One of my first memories of Maspalomas is eating a ribeye in a casino around midnight, possibly closer to one in the morning. We had arrived late and needed dinner. I remember the steak being about €16, and it was fantastic. A casino wasn’t where I expected to have a meal worth remembering from the trip.

Beatus and I spent six nights in Gran Canaria, from July 28 to August 3, 2025. We stayed in Maspalomas and rented a car, which gave us the freedom to get out into the mountains. On other days we went back to the beach and met up with friends we had made while we were there.

“Beautiful and unpretentious” is still the best way I can describe how the trip felt. We could enjoy the gay scene without making every day revolve around going out. And the food and drinks kept surprising us: much of what we ordered felt less expensive than on mainland Spain.

Seven Hotel & Wellness: we would book it again

Our base was Seven Hotel & Wellness, a gay men’s hotel with a clothing-optional pool area. We booked the Suite. The reservation described 47 square meters, with a separate bedroom, a living room and an outdoor terrace. Having that much room was lovely for a six-night stay together.

The pool was beautiful, and we were very happy spending time there. The crowd skewed a little older than us, which was completely fine. It suited the relaxed feeling we liked about Maspalomas.

The staff were phenomenal. Some of them were also hitting us up on Grindr, which we found funny.

I would happily eat at the hotel again. We particularly loved the entrecôte, the portions were great, and both food and drinks felt very reasonably priced. Staying in for a meal here was something we enjoyed in its own right.

It was easy for us to get to Yumbo for a night out, too. We really liked the whole stay.

Our six-night reservation for two, including breakfast, was €1,506.22 in 2025. You can check Seven Hotel & Wellness on Agoda. Look for the Suite if you want the room category we stayed in; the link opens the hotel, and today’s room choices and prices will depend on your dates.

Beach days and the Maspalomas dunes

We went to the beach multiple times. We loved the swimming and the clothing-optional atmosphere. We also met up there with several friends we had made on the trip.

In our photo from the dunes, we’re carrying our shoes, with the sand stretching behind us and the light beginning to soften.

Cruising around the dunes was also part of our experience of gay Maspalomas. We enjoyed that side of the trip and the ease with which it fitted into a beach holiday. There was no need to pretend we had come only for the scenery.

For anyone visiting now, the dunes are a protected nature reserve. The municipality’s marked-path guidance prohibits leaving the designated routes. Respect the signs and protected vegetation; the area’s cruising reputation isn’t permission to go anywhere in the reserve. Keep other people’s privacy in mind as well, especially with a camera.

Los Azulejos: beautiful, and more unsettling than the photos suggest

On July 31 we parked beside the road near Los Azulejos and headed up a steep climb. The multicolored rock faces are visible behind us in our photos. You wouldn’t know from those pictures how uneasy we felt at points during the hike.

We lost the trail several times. At points it felt dangerous, and we did not see a single other person during the hike. Having all that scenery to ourselves was wonderful until we weren’t sure where we were going. Then the absence of other people became a concern.

It was a challenging hike, but I can’t reliably identify the exact route or loop we followed. Los Azulejos is the starting area we can confirm. I would not use our photographs as directions, or recommend copying our route without better preparation than we had.

There are access restrictions nearby that are worth checking before setting out. The Cabildo’s rules for the Inagua nature reserve include a July 1–September 30 hiking closure inside the reserve. That does not establish where our own route went. It does mean that choosing a hike in this area requires checking the actual route and current access rules, as well as the weather.

Looking back, I am glad we saw this part of the island. I would approach the navigation much more carefully next time, with an offline route, enough water and a clear point at which to turn around. The beauty was real; so was the feeling that we had got ourselves into something a little too uncertain.

A private yacht, with dolphins alongside us

The next day we had booked Damiluvi, a private yacht, through Coconut Trips. It was just the two of us with the captain. The booking allowed up to eight guests, but we chose to have the boat to ourselves.

We saw lots of dolphins and a sea turtle. Watching the dolphins so close to the boat was one of the most impressive moments of the holiday. The clip below is from that afternoon.

The captain was very friendly and gay-friendly. We were allowed to be nude on board, with the understanding that there would be no sexual activity. That was the arrangement on our trip, so ask about it when booking if it matters to you.

Our reservation was for six hours at a total of €860, with a €230 deposit included in that total. For a boat entirely to ourselves, we felt it was reasonable. It is still a substantial expense for two people, and sharing the same charter with a group would make the per-person cost very different.

The current Damiluvi listing at Coconut Trips is the place to check the offered duration, price and meeting point. The options advertised now differ from our six-hour booking in 2025. Dolphin and turtle sightings were part of our day, rather than something any future trip can guarantee.

Nights at Yumbo: Mykonos Bar and the cruising bars

Yumbo is an open-air shopping and entertainment center in Playa del Inglés. That description doesn’t quite convey what it is like to go there for a gay night out. A lot of the bars and clubs we wanted to try were gathered in the same complex, so we could spend a night moving between places.

We definitely enjoyed Mykonos Bar. My memory is of more mainstream music there, with a darkroom as well. That broadly matches Yumbo’s own Mykonos listing, which describes disco-pop and a cruising area.

We also went to BUNKER and Construction, and had a lot of fun at the cruising bars. We made friends while we were out. I was impressed by how many places combined a regular bar with a darkroom; cruising wasn’t necessarily a separate destination you had to plan the whole evening around.

I think we checked out Mantrix too. I remember it being emptier that night, with music that felt more circuit-oriented. Circuit music usually isn’t our thing, though I thought the space itself was really nice.

Having a car made the wider island easy to explore

We booked through DiscoverCars, with TopCar as the rental company, and arranged airport pickup and return. Getting around Gran Canaria felt easy with a car. It let us stay in Maspalomas while still taking a day to see the mountains.

I would make the same choice for a trip with that much exploring. Someone coming mainly for the beach and Yumbo might have different needs; our reason for renting was the freedom to get beyond the resort area.

What I would change is how we prepared for the hike. What I would book again without much hesitation is Seven. We had a suite we loved and a pool we enjoyed spending time in, and we could order a meal at the hotel knowing we would be happy with it. That is a pretty good place to come back to at the end of a day.

For more of our island travels, read our week in gay Mykonos.

This article reflects our July 28–August 3, 2025 trip. Reservation amounts and remembered meal prices are from that visit. Check current rates, access rules and venue details before traveling. Photos and video are from our trip.