Keep the fingers crossed !

Lower Valle Gran Rey with the port of Vueltas (top)

Yesterday the parliament of La Gomera approved a government motion calling for the reopening of the ferry service between Los Cristianos in Tenerife and Valle Gran Rey in La Gomera which had recently been suspended indefinitely by shipping company Naviera Armas (see previous post). The motion also calls for the port of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey to be included in the list of Canary Islands ports with an 'obligatory public service' (Obligación de Servicio Público, OSP) by the Canarian ministry for transport, which would mean that a ferry connection will have to be provided.

Further, the approved motion also calls on the port authority to further improve the harbour of Vueltas and integrating it better into the town.

In an interview La Gomera's president Casimiro Curbelo also said that ferry company Armas was already actively looking 'in all of Europe' for a suitable ship to charter with which the ferry connection can be reopened viably.
In 2018 the service transported more than 170.000 passengers and 30.000 vehicles, most of which would have passed through the national park in the mountains had the ferry not been there.

Just after the announcement of the suspension of the service about 1.200 signatures for a petition in support of the ferry line were collected in Valle Gran Rey in a very short time and presented to the local mayor.

Keep the fingers crossed...

Bad News

It has recently been announced by the ferry company Naviera Armas that the ferry service between Los Cristianos in Tenerife and Valle Gran Rey in La Gomera has now been suspended indefinitely. The direct service between the two ports by high speed catamaran was introduced two years ago, but since this summer only sailed at weekends. The company has also stated that it will study the viability of a similar ferry service to be reinstated in the future, possibly with a smaller vessel. 

This is sad news for Valle Gran Rey and bad news for the forest in the national park which is experiencing higher volumes of traffic since the ferry stopped operating as all goods and traffic have to go across the mountain through the park on that road now.
Read more with an update ...

Update on the new ferry connections

So now that I've had the pleasure of travelling on the Armas car ferry to Valle Gran Rey, which took just over thirty minutes to get from San Sebastian de La Gomera to Valle Gran Rey, let me tell you that all here in VGR are delighted and the lorry drivers of the the regular delivery services are most happy that they now can have a cup of coffee aboard the ferry instead of driving for up to two hours through the mountains and the national park on narrow winding roads. The HSC Alboran has been refurbished in recent times and all services are of a high standard. The food and drink on offer aboard is of good quality and very competitively priced.

The passenger ferry Benchi Express, which so far has only been running two return sailings daily, has proven a success, too, and over 8.000 passengers have travelled on it in the first few weeks. About two thirds of this number have been locals and the remainder tourists. The Fred. Olsen company has announced that from next week the service which connects the ports of San Sebastian de La Gomera, Playa de Santiago and Valle Gran Rey will begin its winter schedule with three return sailings daily.

Cars bound for VGR boarding in San Seb. de L.G.

The high-speed car ferry Alboran which will connect San Sebastian de L.G. and V.G.R. with Los Cristianos on Tenerife is still in the initial phase of operation and schedules are only issued for the week ahead. Some adjustments have to be made to the docking ramp in San Seb. and some sailings involve changing from the vessel Volcan de Taburiente to the Alboran there, but soon all trips will be direct which will make this the fastest connection from Tenerife to Valle Gran Rey ever.

And now there's a 'well-informed' rumour that the Fred. Olsen company will also bring a high-speed car ferry to Valle Gran Rey. I'll keep you posted...

NOTE: Both ferry services are still frequently adjusting schedules and may experience some 'teething problems', so it is advisable to keep checking their websites before travelling. It is best to book your trip just before intending to travel, or at the port offices prior to departure - until the dust has settled.
Click for UPDATE  

HSC Alboran in San Sebastian de La Gomera 

Car ferry in Valle Gran Rey

First of all let me apologise for not having posted any updates this week, but the storm resulting from hurricane Ophelia which hit Ireland on Monday left me without broadband internet until this morning. There's another storm named Brian arriving here later today, so I might lose the internet again as all the infrastructure has been weakened by the previous blow...

The big news on La Gomera is that the first ever regular car ferry arrived in Valle Gran Rey yesterday and was open to the public. There were cheers and applause from the local population who'll now be able to bring their cars to Tenerife and back without driving through the mountains and the national park.

The connection will now be served initially by the large high speed catamaran HSC Alboran and not the HSC Volcan de Teno as previously reported. The later vessel is still in Cadiz and rumour has it that this is being held by the Spanish security forces for a possible takeover of Catalonia. They've even commissioned cruise ships...

Anyway the car ferry Alboran, owned and operated by Naviera Armas will now connect Valle Gran Rey with Los Cristianos in about 90 minutes and can be booked on the Armas website and services are to begin from this weekend. More details and to follow soon, if I have got broadband. Here some images from yesterday's presentation of the service (courtesy of Vino Tinto shop in Vueltas). I'm hoping to travel on it soon and also on the new passenger ferry Benchi Express with special posts on this blog to follow...

Click for latest UPDATE

New ferry connection ''in a few days''

Well, you still can't book the new Naviera Armas car ferry connection from Tenerife to Valle Gran Rey, but the recent post on the company's Facebook page (below) states ''In a few days we start !!!! Valle Gran Rey, welcome to our route network''. However, as of this morning the vessel is still in Cadiz. Hurry up, I want to book...

Naviera Armas

11 October at 21:23 · 

Ferry Valle Gran Rey poniéndose “guapo”.
En unos dias, comenzamos!!!!!
Valle Gran Rey, bienvenidos a nuestra red de rutas.

See Translation
Click for latest UPDATE

Fast car ferry to connect Valle Gran Rey with Tenerife

The wave-piercing fast catamaran HSC Volcan de Teno which will connect Valle Gran Rey (Image: Naviera Armas)

The shipping company Naviera Armas has announced that it will introduce a new ferry service between Los Cristianos on Tenerife and Valle Gran Rey on La Gomera. The direct service between the two ports will be served by their high speed catamaran Volcan de Teno with a top speed of 38 knots (about 70 km/h ) and a capacity of more than 900 passengers and up to 290 vehicles on the cargo deck. It is not clear yet whether this service will also connect neighbouring El Hierro island after stopping in Valle Gran Rey, but this would make economic sense.
The service is to begin in the middle of next month (October 15th, 2017) according to local press reports. The super fast catamaran (HSC) was built in 2000 by Incat in Tasmania and was acquired by Armas last year. The company has just announced the new service through their Facebook and Twitter accounts, but as yet there's nothing on their official booking website.
The Canarian Naviera Armas shipping company has also placed an order worth 74 million Euros for a much larger wave-piercing HSC with the same shipyard and this vessel is currently under construction.

After the recent introduction of the new Fred. Olsen vessel Benchi Express which will serve the 'interior ferry line' of La Gomera this is further very welcome news as it will now offer direct cargo services to Valle Gran Rey which in turn should ease traffic congestion in the national park considerably.

I'll keep you informed when more details emerge, and I'm hoping to be one of the first passengers on the new service...
+UPDATE:
It has now emerged that the new car ferry high speed service will not connect with the island of El Hierro, but will exclusively serve the connection between Los Cristianos on Tenerife and La Gomera, and will connect La Gomera's south-western port of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey for the first time regularly with a car ferry. Naviera Armas have also stated that their existing ferry service served by their slower vessel 'Volcan de Taburiente' which also connects the island of La Palma with San Sebastian de La Gomera and Los Cristianos will continue on that route. El Hierro will continue to be served from Los Cristianos seperately by another Armas vessel.
Wow, for more than five years there wasn't any ferry service to Valle Gran Rey and now there shall be two! Just at the right time, too, because there are major road works with traffic delays being undertaken near Arure on the only road into VGR.
More details on the new car ferry service soon...
Click for latest UPDATE

Part of the interior of 'Volcan de Teno' (Image: ferrybalear)