Ferry ticket bargains

Ferry company Armas is offering tickets at discounts of 30% off and up to 45% off on all their routes, including their high-speed ferry to La Gomera, for bookings made until Monday 1st of December 2025. You can book ahead for sailings until June 15th 2026. The discount is applied in the final step of booking before you pay when you enter the discount code BLACKFERRIDAYS. Here's the link to the offer in English...

Ferry problems

The damaged ramp in the bow of the ferry 'Volcan de Taburiente'  (Image: Felipe San Luis )

The ferry 'Volcan de Taburiente' which is owned and operated by the Canarian ferry company Naviera Armas and presently serves the islands of La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma from Tenererife's Los Cristianos port sustained damage to the bow ramp last night. It had arrived fro the island of El Hierro last night when during the berthing in Los Cristianos one of the hydraulic arms lowering the ramp collapsed leaving the cars and trucks trapped aboard until the roll-on/roll-off ferry was allowed to turn around and to allow the vehicles to disembark through the stern ramp.

If you intend to travel to La Gomera or the other two western Canary islands on this service you should check with the Armas ferry company as there's bound to be disruption until the vessel has been repaired, bearing in mind that another of the company's vessel which serves these islands is currently out of service due to annual maintenance.

Action on ferry demanded by president of La Gomera

There has been total silence surrounding the promised re-establishment of the 'interior line' ferry which covered the connection between the three La Gomera ports of Valle Gran Rey, Playa de Santiago, San Sebastian de La Gomera and then continued on to Los Cristianos on Tenerife. Now La Gomera's president C. Curbelo has called on the president of the government of the Canary Islands Paulino Rivero to make sure that his promise of a re-introduction of the service before the end of this year not just ''remains good intentions, but to redouble all efforts to make sure it becomes a reality in the shortest time possible'', reminding him that that the year is ending very soon. 

Curbelo also said that this ferry line is a basic necessity for La Gomera's citizens and stressed its social and economic importance as well as its significance for visitors to the island.

We'll see if this appeal will have any effect, but a least the silence is broken and the ferry hasn't been totally forgotten yet. I can see from my blog statistics that all articles concerning this ferry are amongst the most read, and the first question I'm always asked when talking about La Gomera is ''Any news about the small ferry ?''

Ferry problems and delays today.

Armas ferry Volcan de Taburiente

Not only did the weather cause cancellations and delays over the past weekend, but the Armas ferry Volcan de Taburiente suffered ''technical problems'' as well and is not sailing at all now until further notice. Apparently a side thruster which is needed for mooring the ship to the quay has failed and there are ''electrical problems''. The Spanish-built ship serves the Los Cristianos to La Gomera and to La Palma routes is now undergoing repairs.

All the Armas passengers are switching to the Fred. Olsen Express ferry, but this is now causing long queues and delays for those sailings. If you are booked on any sailings on the above routes you're advised to contact the ferry company for further information.

As one reader of this blog commented on yesterday's post:

''...we were due to arrive on La Gomera today, Sunday. All went well except that when we arrived to get the 8.45 Armas ferry we were told that the boat was broken when we tried to board. Cue panic but we managed to get on the Fred Olsen (no help from Armas) and are now here and enjoying...''

Update Thursday Dec. 4th 2014:
The Armas ferry Volcan de Taburiente has now been repaired and has resumed regular sailings as scheduled this morning.

President confirms subsidies for La Gomera ferry

The president of the Canary Islands Paulino Rivero has announced during a speech in the Canary Islands' parliament yesterday that his government will subsidise travel on the so-called 'interior ferry line' of La Gomera. Residents would receive a 75% subsidy for tickets and this should make the ferry line viable and very attractive for the prospective operator of the service. Politicians from all parties have welcomed the statement, and the mayors of the towns on La Gomera which the service is hopefully going to connect once again soon have expressed their support for the decision. It is hoped that the subsidies will make it more attractive for ferry operators to apply for the contract to supply the service. Persistent rumours circulate that 'more than one' company has been waiting for this decision before finalising their proposals and that on of them is the former Garajonay Express company.
The passenger ferry operated on and off over a number of years, attracting more than 150.000 passengers per year before ceasing operations in late 2012. It was a rapid and comfortable service cutting journey times between the towns serviced . It also helped to reduce the amount of traffic in the mountains and through the national park.
We're still keeping the fingers crossed...

Two fast ferries to La Gomera - changes to schedule

Soon to sail to La Gomera: Fast ferry Alboran   (Image: Trasmediteranea)

From this Thursday, March 20th 2014, the ferry company Armas which connects San Sebastian de La Gomera with Los Cristianos on Tenerife with their ship Volcan de Taburiente, will introduce a trimaran called Alboran on the route while their regular ferry Volcan de Taburiente is undergoing the annual review and inspection. The  faster ship will directly compete with the similar Fred.Olsen-operated Benchijigua Express 

The Alboran, built by the same yard in Australia, can also do the same maximum speed as the Olsen ferry at a staggering 42 knots per hour (about 80 km/h), but normal service speed is 36 knots. At about 300 ft the Alboran is 100 ft smaller than the Benchjigua (which happens to be the largest civilian trimaran in the world), and can accommodate about 900 passengers and 265 cars. This additional Armas ferry is owned by Trasmediterranea ferries under the Acciona brand and has previously plied routes in the Mediterranean. 

The Alboran will later begin sailing the regular route to El Hierro from Tenerife with occasional stopovers in San Sebastian de La Gomera, when the Volcan de Taburiente will be back in service maintaining the previous La Gomera connection. The current El Hierro ferry Alcantara Dos, also owned by Acciona will be withdrawn from that route due to problems with reliability, etc.. 

N.B.: A revised timetable will apply from Thursday for most departures. This will be published shortly. Check ferry timetables in English by clicking button Travel + Transport beside Home above). 

The Armas ferry Volcan de Taburiente

La Gomera's institutions close ranks on ferry issue

Several politicians and representatives from La Gomera, among them the island's president C. Curbelo and the mayors of Alajero and Valle Gran Rey, held a meeting on Tenerife on Monday to discuss ways to reinstate the ferry service between the ports of Valle Gran Rey, Playa de Santiago and San Sebastian on La Gomera and Los Cristianos on Tenerife. This so-called 'interior line' ceased operations just a year ago despite having been declared an 'obligatory public service' by the Canarian government some years previously.

The ferry route had been operated by three different companies over the years and attracted 150.000 passengers per year on average. The meeting discussed several options and proposals and even an increase of subsidies for residents was suggested to make the service more viable and competitive. 

A few days before this meeting La Gomera's president had demanded that any new company covering the badly missed service should be exempt from paying harbour dues for the initial phase of operating the connection. Apparently  there is one company in particular very interested in serving the route with complete applications submitted already.

It is worth remembering that by ferry  it just takes about 30 minutes to travel from Valle Gran Rey to the capital San Sebastian, while the public bus needs about 110 minutes to get there. The route by sea would also reduce the amount of traffic that has to pass through the centre of the national park now.
UPDATE: The director of the department of transport of the Canarian government has since stated on radio that the department is actively 'looking for a solution which will facilitate companies wishing to operate the route by reducing the costs for same'.

Let's hope they are successful    Photo: ©gomeranoticias.com

Urgent meeting demanded to discuss ferry service

 The mayors of Alajero (which includes Playa Santiago) and Valle Gran Rey have called for an urgent meeting with the representative of the Canarian government responsible for public transport to discuss and analyse the proposal by 'one ferry company' to reinstate the ferry connection between the three ports of La Gomera and Los Cristianos on Tenerife. The two mayors both have stated that the meeting should be held on La Gomera and should involve all authorities concerned as well as the government of La Gomera 'as soon as the Christmas festivities are over'.

It is understood that the proposal is by Garajonay Express, the company which successfully operated this ferry service up to a few years ago. We're keeping the fingers crossed...

News: Garajonay Express proposes ferry connection

Garajonay Express arriving in Valle Gran Rey in the good ol' days. 

Great news just in: The ferry line Garajonay Express which up to a few years ago covered the connection between the three La Gomera ports of Valle Gran Rey, Playa de Santiago, San Sebastian de La Gomera and then continued on to Los Cristianos on Tenerife wants to re-establish the same connection. This was announced today by the mayor of Valle Gran Rey, Miguel Angel Hernandez, who said that he has received a solid proposal by the same company which aims to sail the route twice daily seven days a week with a 250-passengers fast ferry.The company, according to well informed sources now with changes in shareholding, proposes a price for the journey from Valle Gran Rey to Los Cristianos of 33 Euros and from VGR to San Sebastian of just 12 Euros. These are presumably maximum prices without subsidies. No news as yet as to WHEN the service might begin - ALL here say: 'The sooner the better'. Keeping the fingers crossed I'll keep you posted...
+Update 30-10-13: 
The latest 'well informed rumours' say that a fast ferry boat for Garajonay Express is already on its way from Italy. 
+Update 31-10-13: 
The mayor of Valle Gran Rey has once again confirmed the proposal and has stated that all the company wants is the Canarian government's honouring of the 50% subsidy of prices for passengers resident in the Canaries and no harbour dues for the first three years of re-introducing  the service. He also said that the governments of La Gomera and of the Canary Islands should be up to date on the offer and that the Italian director of Garajonay Express had a meeting with officials of both authorities at the end of September already. 
Let's just hope this doesn't become a political football. The competing larger companies carry a lot of clout, too, and will undoubtedly lose some business if 'our' ferry runs again.

UPDATE 05-01-14:
The only news since my last update was that the company Garajonay Express have submitted their proposal for covering the service to the authorities together with a viability study. They have their (reasonable) pricing included and they have estimated that they would be employing 34 people. However the company is demanding that they'd be exempt from any harbour dues in the ports of Playa de Santiago and Valle Gran Rey for at least the first year of service. One of the shareholders in the  company, Hector Cabrera, was quoted as saying 'We have one ferry already available and can supply another' and once given the green light by the authorities it would only take a month to begin sailings. 
It appears that it all depends on the Canarian government now...

UPDATE March 27th, 2014:
President confirms subsidies for La Gomera ferry

UPDATE Dec. 17th, 2014:

• Action on ferry demanded by president of La Gomera...

Ferries Canaries '13: More Rumours, Rumblings, Runs.

Watching the  Fred. Olsen ferry from the Naviera Armas ferry in the  port
of San Sebastian de La Gomera a few days ago. Both ferries were full and
arrived almost at the same time in Los Cristianos causing tailbacks there.

Uncertainty about ferry routes and departure times seem to be an annual feature in autumn just before the peak season winter schedules are finally established. Now it has been announced that the ferry company 'Naviera Armas' is to introduce a new fast catamaran service on the route between Los Cristianos and El Hierro and according to some rumours this service is to stop-over at a harbour on La Gomera, possibly Valle Gran Rey. The council of the town have once again complained about the lack of a connection and called unanimously for the re-introduction of the so-called 'interior line' connecting the three main ports on La Gomera. According to some officials another  company wants to apply for a licence to connect Valle Gran Rey with a smaller boat capable of carrying about 80 passengers. A persistent and seemingly well-informed rumour meanwhile intimates the re-introduction of a  'type of Garajonay Express ferry service before Christmas'.

A further hot issue is the schedule of connections between Los Cristianos and San Sebastian de La Gomera, where often the sailings of the two companies arrive at the same time, leading to traffic congestion in Los Cristianos. Some sailings on the same route have been cancelled leaving less options for travellers especially at weekends, and meetings were held between officials and representatives of the ferry companies to improve the schedules which lead to some amendments having been made now. Keep checking  timetables regularly (see links on sidebar) if you intend to travel.

More rumours not worth mentioning here are doing the rounds and it remains to be seen what will emerge when reliable winter timetables and possible new routes have been established. If you don't need to book very soon it may be worth waiting until the last minute, but remember that all schedules remain subject to change anyway - and the same goes for the prices.
In the eastern Canary Islands the Fred.Olsen ferry line has promised to 'become market leader of ferry connections in the Canaries' by introducing a new connection between Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura with 22 weekly sailings between the two islands. The port of Corralejo on Fuerteventura will to connect to Lanzarote with 80 weekly sailings. Before we applaud too enthusiastically, let's bear in mind that the Canarian government has approved subsidies for inter-island travel services provided to residents by the Fred.Olsen ferry line to the tune of nearly 2.5 million Euros for the first three month of 2013 alone. 
Great and well done - but can we have a very small slice of that cake in Valle Gran Rey, Señores, pliiiiisssss ?!

Update: NEW ferry connection proposed.
Click for latest UPDATE

Ferry to Valle Gran Rey soon again ?

Garajonay Express 

Local media are reporting today that negotiations for the re-introduction of the ferry line which used to connect the  ports of San Sebastian de La Gomera, Playa de Santiago and Valle Gran Rey are progressing well and at an 'advanced stage'. Reportedly there is more than one applicant company interested in  connecting the three harbours on La Gomera and the Canarian government is said to be willing to subsidise the ferries for passengers resident in the Canary Islands.

The ferry line Garajonay Express which successfully operated the line initially with more than two million passengers is sorely missed here. Bear in mind that the journey from Valle Gran Rey to the island's capital takes much less time by ferry than by bus.  Keep the fingers crossed !

UPDATE: Good news !
UPDATE 2: President confirms subsidies