Some routes are about the destination; others are about the order. Lanzarote’s south-west coast is the second kind: a few kilometres of road, the LZ-703, linking the Janubio salt pans, the cliffs of Los Hervideros and the green lagoon at El Golfo. Rushed at midday, it is a string of stops. Taken late, with the sun dropping into the Atlantic, it is the most complete afternoon on the island.
The essentials
- The route: the LZ-703 road on the south-west coast: Janubio, Los Hervideros and El Golfo within a few kilometres.
- No bookings or tickets.
- When: set off mid-afternoon to reach El Golfo as the sun goes down.
- Los Hervideros: stay on the marked paths; big waves arrive without warning.
- Charco de los Clicos: swimming in the lagoon and going down to the beach are prohibited. You watch from the viewpoint.
Janubio, to begin
The road runs past the Salinas de Janubio, a grid of coloured pans between the lagoon and the sea. A brief stop to look down on them is worthwhile, and if salt as a product interests you — it should — we give it its own piece: Janubio salt.
Los Hervideros: the sea inside the lava
When the lava of the 1730–1736 eruptions reached the sea, it cooled into hollow cliffs riddled with cracks and caves. Today the swell surges into them and bursts back out as foam, as if the water were boiling — hence the name, hervideros, the “boiling places”. They are explored along steps and marked paths leading to small balconies over the water.
The only rule here is common sense, and it is worth taking seriously: stay on the marked paths. The western sea is unpredictable, big waves arrive without warning and wet volcanic rock is slippery. On days of heavy swell the place looks its best — and that is when you should keep your distance.
Charco de los Clicos
A little further on, beside the village of El Golfo, the coast holds the island’s most unlikely image: a volcanic crater split open by the sea, with a saltwater lagoon of intense green at its foot, separated from the ocean by a black-sand beach. This is Charco de los Clicos, also called the Green Lagoon, within Los Volcanes Natural Park.
The rule is clear: swimming in the lagoon and going down to the beach are prohibited. You see it from the viewpoint, which is where it makes most sense anyway: the crescent of the crater, the green of the water, the black of the sand and the blue of the ocean behind.
And one request that belongs here: along this coast you will sometimes spot green grains of olivine in the sand and rock. Look, by all means. Don’t take olivine, sand or volcanic stones: the landscape is protected, and what each visitor pockets, multiplied, shows.
The order that works
- Set off mid-afternoon, once the heat eases.
- Janubio in passing, while the light is still high.
- Los Hervideros with the sun already low, when shadows sculpt the rock.
- El Golfo last: the Charco de los Clicos viewpoint as the sun goes down, then the village — small and facing the sea — to sit and watch the water for a while before dinner.
There are no tickets or bookings on this route, which may be why it is so easy to enjoy: there is nowhere to be at any particular time, except sunset.
Where it fits in your trip
It works as the close to a day of volcanoes. In the morning, Timanfaya on the Ruta de los Volcanes or the walk up Caldera Blanca; in the afternoon, this coast, where the same lava you saw from the inside finally meets the sea.
Information as of October 2026. Check sea conditions before you go: in rough weather, access to Los Hervideros may be closed.
