Amadores or Anfi del Mar: Best Beach in Gran Canaria
Published 2026-08-23. Conditions described are typical and never guaranteed.
The verdict first
If you are travelling with young children or you are a nervous swimmer who just wants the calmest, clearest water in the south of the island, book near Amadores Beach. If you are a couple, or a family who cares as much about the postcard and the lunch as the swim, lean toward Anfi del Mar Beach. Both are excellent. Neither is natural. The honest truth is that these two bays are close cousins, engineered for comfort within a short drive of each other, and the right choice comes down to a handful of specifics rather than one being flatly better than the other.
So this is not a piece that crowns a single champion. It is a piece that tells you which shore suits which day, and names the exact conditions that flip the answer.
What they share, and why it matters
Let us be clear about the thing the brochures gloss over. Both of these beaches are man made. Amadores is a purpose built bay of imported golden sand held behind breakwaters. Anfi del Mar is a bay of pale sand trucked in and sheltered behind breakwaters and a marina. That is not a criticism. It is the whole point. The engineering is precisely why the water at both is so calm and clear, and why they are among the easier, gentler swims on this coast.
If it is raw, wild character you are chasing, neither is your beach and you should look elsewhere on the island entirely. The protected dunes of Maspalomas Beach give you cinematic scale, the reef sheltered curve of Las Canteras Beach gives you a genuine city beach with Spanish life, and the unbuilt cove of Guayedra Beach gives you the wild north west with no facilities at all. Amadores and Anfi trade that wildness for calm, comfort and full services. Judge them on those terms and both deliver.
Both charge nothing to enter. Both keep the sand clean and groomed. Both have sunbed hire, showers, a promenade of places to eat and a paid terrace club above the sand. Both carry seasonal lifeguard cover, and as ever you should read the flags and judge the sea yourself on the day, because no bay is a guarantee. For a wider sense of the island's shores, our Gran Canaria guide sets the two in context.
Sand and setting: gold against white
The first visible difference is colour. Amadores runs golden, a warm, familiar Canarian tone that reads as a proper resort beach. Anfi runs pale, a bright, tropical white that was chosen deliberately to make the water glow turquoise around it. On a clear day Anfi photographs like the Caribbean, and that is no accident.
Setting sharpens the contrast. Amadores sits in a tidy, self contained bay near Puerto Rico, backed by a clean promenade and the smart terrace of the Amadores Beach Club. It feels polished and enclosed, a place designed to be comfortable from the moment you arrive. Anfi has more going on around it: a marina, a palm fringed front, and just beyond the water the small Maroa islet that reads as a heart from above and gives the bay its romantic reputation. If you want the prettier, softer, more photogenic backdrop, Anfi takes it. If you want the neater, more contained resort feel, Amadores wins.
Which sand suits whom
- Choose Amadores for warm golden sand and a compact, easy to read bay.
- Choose Anfi for bright white sand, palms and the turquoise look that ends up on postcards.
Water and swimming: two very gentle bays
This is where the two are closest. Both are sheltered behind breakwaters, so both stay calm and clear far more reliably than the open Atlantic beaches to the north and west. For easy swimming, they are genuinely in the same class.
Amadores earns a slight edge for the single, sheltered arc of its bay. The calmest water sits right in the centre, and the whole thing is built around swimming comfort, which is why it is so often recommended for young children and for anyone who is not confident in the sea. Anfi is also calm, shallow and gentle, with the added shelter of the marina, and it too is described as one of the softest swims in the south. Honestly, on a settled day you would struggle to feel a meaningful difference in the water itself.
The tiebreaker is not the sea but the shore around it, which we come to next. Either way, treat conditions as typical rather than promised, keep an eye on children, and follow the seasonal lifeguards. For nervous swimmers and toddlers, both bays belong on any shortlist in our family beaches roundup.
Facilities and the day around the swim
Both have full facilities, so nobody goes without a sunbed, a shower or lunch. The difference is in the flavour of the day.
At Amadores the promenade is the promenade, and a coastal path links the bay to Puerto Rico, a pleasant walk of around twenty minutes with sea views. Many people stay in Puerto Rico and stroll over for the calmer, prettier swim, which makes Amadores an easy add on rather than a base in itself. The Amadores Beach Club above the sand is the natural choice for a more polished, sit down day.
At Anfi the day opens outward. The flat coastal path leads to the fishing town of Arguineguin, where the harbour restaurants grill the local catch simply. Time it for the big Tuesday market and the whole front comes alive with stalls, and you can settle in afterward for a long Canarian fish lunch by the water. The Maroa terrace club sits by the marina alongside the islet. The gentle walk down to the sand also suits buggies, a small but real advantage for families with a pram.
The short version: Amadores gives you a walk to a lively resort town, Anfi gives you a walk to a working fishing town and a market. Pick the lunch you would rather eat.
Crowds and mood
Both are popular, and both are busiest in the summer peak. The material points to April, May and October as the sweet spot for each: warm and settled, with lighter crowds than high summer. If you have any flexibility, those shoulder months are when either bay is at its best, and our seasonal timing notes go into more detail.
In mood, Amadores feels contained and resort focused, which suits people who want everything in one tidy place. Anfi feels a touch more romantic and open, which is why it leans toward couples as much as families. That romantic streak, the islet, the palms, the marina, is genuinely the deciding factor for a lot of people, and it is well earned. Couples weighing up a day for two will find it sits comfortably among our picks for couples.
When the other one wins
Here is where the answer flips, plainly stated.
You might have Amadores in mind, but choose Anfi instead if the day is about the photograph, the palm fringed setting and a long fish lunch afterward, or if you are travelling with a buggy and want the gentlest walk down to the sand. Anfi's white sand, its turquoise look and its path to Arguineguin simply do more for a couple's day or a slow family lunch.
You might be set on Anfi, but choose Amadores instead if you are basing yourself in Puerto Rico and want the calmest, most contained swim within an easy walk, or if your whole priority is the single sheltered arc for a toddler or a nervous swimmer. Amadores is the tighter, more purpose built swimming bay, and the coastal path from Puerto Rico makes it effortless to reach.
And if either bay's man made polish leaves you cold, that is your cue to trade calm for character on the wilder shores, from the dunes of the south to the quiet coves of the north. There is no shame in wanting the untamed island. It just is not what these two are for. If seclusion is the goal, start with our quieter beaches instead.
So, which one
For the calmest, most contained swim in the south, especially with small children or from a Puerto Rico base, Amadores. For the prettiest setting, the romantic islet and a fishing town lunch, Anfi del Mar. Both are honest, well run, comfortable bays. You will not regret either. You will only wish, on the wrong day, that you had matched the beach to the mood.
Plan a club day
Both bays have a terrace club above the sand, and the easiest way to lock one in is to enquire ahead rather than turn up hoping for a lounger. Browse and compare your options, then reserve a day through our Gran Canaria beach clubs page, where you can check what is available and enquire directly.