Activities

For both self-drive and with transport included tickets, meeting point is outside our office in Los Cancajos   (hotel Las Olas, not at the reception area of the hotel). A map to reach the meeting point is on every ticket and on the reservation page. Please be at the meeting point at least 10 mins before departure.

For closed groups, it is possible to have an alternative picking up point. Please email us to discuss best options.

For other activities the site and meeting point is specified on the web and tickets. Please read the conditions. For example, for “tapas and stars”, the meeting point is in Fuencaliente, althout there is the possibility of transport from hotel Princess (opcional).

 

Our guides speak English and Spanish. Tours in german language are possible but subject to availability of guides. For Dutch, French and Italian, please request more info via email.

The duration of the tours, excluding transfers, will be about two hours (with transfers  included 4 hours). Other activities have a longer duration and are specified on the activity website. Activities for close or concerted groups may vary in duration according to agreement.

By default our activities do NOT include transport. Customers will need their onw car, a rental car or a taxi booked to access both meeting point and the viewing site.

For groups: for groups larger than 6 people transport is an optional service. In any case, prices may vary depending on the external provider. Groups are free to reserve their own transport service.

 

The calendar of our astronomy activities including tours and events is published on our web. Tours usually take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. In high season, availability increases. In any case, places left will appear in green on our calendar. Availability of dates appear with 2-3 months in advance only. Star-parties & requested events are not published on our website.

All our guides are amateur astronomers and qualified Starlight guides. Also, our main guides are astrophysicists with previous experience in teaching, science communication, astronomical instrumentation and they are also amateur astronomers. All our guides have more than 5 years on previous experiencie at guiding groups.

To learn more about us, see here.

equipo tripadvisor

Photo: 2018 with all our Tripadvisor awards so far.

Dates with availability appear in green on the calendar. If you read this in our reservations section it means that there are no places available for this activity at the moment (no more places left). Also it may mean you cannot book right now as it is too soon. Please note that, we upload dates for activities on our website 2-3 months prior to the date (in september for activities in november-december for example). In turn, in high season places may all go.

You may send us an email if you want to be added to the waiting list for when/if we have places.

All our activities are suitable for children and of course, they are always welcome.

Children between 6 and 11 years have a reduced price (see each of the activities) . Whereas children under 6 years go for free (except if they need transportation with us in which case a fee of 12 EUR apply). However, please note that  children under 6 years old cannot attend the (day) visits to the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory due to health and safety reasons.

It is possible to visit the facilities of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, but only upon prior reservation and only in the morning. See “Visits to the Observatory” on this website.

However, under no circumstances is it possible to stargaze at the observatory at night or to visit the observatory in the evening. From sunset until dawn the gates at the observatory are locked (20:00-7:00) are  and only professionals are allowed. For stargazing tours see here.

Payment

Prices for all our activities and services are in Euros. Payments in advance can be made via credit card. Some local travel agencies, hotels and tourist information offices have our events and/or tours on sale.

If you are trying to purchase online one of our experiences and you have difficulties, here there are some possible reasons. We also offer some solutions for a successful booking process.

  • Please accept our Cookies Policy. You will not be able to proceed with the payment unless you agree to them.
  • Please avoid Internet Explorer or an outdated browser. We recommend you to use an updated version of browsers like Safari, Chrome, Firefox, or other. Alternately, you may use another device. Mostly this is to do with security reasons.
  • If your device does not support payments on pop-up windows, you will have to change your device settings to enable this feature temporarily.
  • If your internet connection is too slow, it may not allow the payment gateway to be displayed correctly.
  • Error in the identification of the card’s holder or PIN. Please, try again by entering the correct data.
  • Your card has expired or does not support online payments. Please, consult your bank or use PayPal.
  • For online payments it is essential to have a smartphone to be able to make electronic purchases. This is due to European secure payment regulations. After entering your card details, you will receive a code from your bank (by SMS or via the banking app downloaded on your smartphone) which you must use to complete the payment. Some banks require clients enter their app and accept payment again on the app.

Also, keep in mind that if you are trying to book tickets but the process is not completed successfully, you should wait for at least 10 minutes before trying again. The system automatically retains places during this time.

When booking is complete, you will receive an automatic email with all the details of your reservation. Please check your spam folder if you do not received this email.

If, after reading this, you still cannot complete your reservation, please contact us. More about steps for reservation here.

 

Preparation

Astronomy tours are safe. However, they take place at night. We recommend clients to follow some basic precaution measures, such as perhaps to have a red torch, drive slowly after dark…. However, it is extremely important for you to bring winter clothing to the activity as temperature may drop at night, even in summer.

Yes, always. It is very important. We strongly recommend you to wear warm winter clothes even in summer. At high altitudes, temperatures can drop up to 5 C in winter and be around 15C in summer. We are outdoors.

To enjoy the stars, please wear comfortable and warm clothes. If you are too warm, you can always take them off, but if you are cold it will not be pleasant.

All our activities are in Spanish and English. Sometimes we have guides that also Speak german, so yes, it is possible to have a guide who is English speaking.

Yes. Occasionally we offer a 10% discount on online bookings. It will show on the price tag. For groups, we also have discounts depending on group size.

Meeting point is in our office in Los Cancajos. We have chosen this option after years of experience. We honestly think this is the best option. Even if you are staying on another side of the island or if you want to make the most of your time in La Palma, our office is the best option for the meeting point. This is because our office has electricity, mobile signal, street lights and it is in an easy-to-find location whereas astronomy viewpoints have no lights, very poor (or none) mobile signal and are dark (we are going to stargaze!!). So we honestly think, we need to guide you there even for self-drive options. Do not worry, roads are fine and safe (no 4×4 needed), only that you do not know them! Besides, we do want to meet you and chances are that, by meeting in the mountain in the dark, we would miss each other. We would think it would be irresponsible to do otherwise.

Also, please consider that, our activities are weather dependant. By meeting in our office we have more chances to be flexible and to adapt to weather conditions (clouds and microclimates). We do not always go to the same site to stargaze. Viewing sites chosen depending on weather conditions exclusively. We would go to the best site each night.

We recommend that you check the phase of the moon before making your reservation. All nights are not the same. Nor are the stars the same depending on the season of the year, nor do they look the same depending on the phase of the moon. Even so, moonlit nights are spectacular and totally natural.

A few days around a full moon, the Moon will dominate the sky and it will not be a dark night. Some people like the Moon very much, like children, and others prefer a very dark night. Please see the calendar here. And if you have any doubts, send us an email.

Luna creciente
Luna creciente. Moon phase

Reservation

Our cancellation terms and conditions is as follows:

a. If you cancel.

We are concious your plans may change. Your fare will be reimbursed if you cancel at least 24h in advance. Notice of cancellation must be made in written via email (you will receive a confirmation email. Please notice our working hours). However, a 20% deposit is non-refundable upon cancellation by you.

Important: For visits to the Observatory there is a 50% non-refundable fee and if you would like to cancel and get the partial refund notice is at least 48h.

b. Cancellation due to adverse weather conditions.

Astronomy activities will take place if weather conditions allow night sky observation. A tour or activity may be cancelled due to weather conditions. Options in these cases are that: we refund your fare, we offer an alternative date for your tour/activity or else, we offer and alternative astronomy activity, if available. Under no circumstances can we be held responsible for cancellation due to weather conditions, if you are not contactable for cancellations or if contact data is incorrect. We strongly advice you give us a contact mobile telephone/hotel name & room number to inform you in case of cancellation.

c. For bookings through authorised agencies, see terms & conditions of your agency directly.

For special events or groups it is possible to organise an additional tour. However, minimum number of clients apply. This is also subject to availability of guides and equipment.

The meeting point of our activities depends on the activity itself and is specified in each activity and on its tickets. Normally the meeting point is in our office in Los Cancajos. However, for activities that allow transportation such as astronomical tours or for groups, there is the possibility of picking up clients at hotels. There is a minimum number of customers for this. Please consult us via email.