If you’re a man who likes to have sex with other men in public places or men-only venues, you’ve landed on the perfect page. If you’re under 18 or have no interest in this topic, you’ve probably ended up here by accident. Feel free to go back to our main Gran Canaria page.
Why We Love Cruising in Gran Canaria: Hot, Horny, Shirtless, Spanish Guys
Gran Canaria is the most popular of the Canary Islands, and gay men flock there during the summer, and it’s obvious why. Shirtless, sexy, Spanish men are everywhere. Beaches surround the island, and the world-famous Maspalomas Beach, with its cruising dunes, is where a lot of the action happens. But that’s not all, there are eight dedicated sex on premises (SOPV) cruise bars, two clubs with dark rooms, and one sauna. Then there’s the entire Yumbo Center, where most of these venues are found; the whole mall is a giant cruising place.
While Spain is a very gay-forward country, public activity is still governed by the laws. To keep it completely safe and above board, your best experiences will be found at the city’s famous licensed SOPVs, where you can play without concerns. This doesn’t mean that you won’t find guys at the famous dunes (see below), but there is more risk associated there.
Dedicated Cruise Venues
Gran Canaria Island is reasonably small and most of the gay venues are located within a kilometer of each other, in the south of the island. There are eight in total, three of them are in the Yumbo Center, two in an apartment complex 400m another in an apartment complex 1 km to the north, and one in another smaller shopping center 1 km to the south. Whatever vibe you’re looking for in a cruise venue, you’re bound to find it in Gran Canaria.
Best for Newbies: Tom’s Crusing Bar
For a Young Crowd into Pup Play: Strong Construction
Most Hardcore: TImE oFF (Romeo/Julio)
For Bears and their Admirer: Cruise Bar
Strong Construction
Strong Construction in the Yumbo Center is known for drawing a younger crowd, especially those interested in pup play, as there’s a dedicated room. There are three bars, and plenty of dark and sling rooms and corners to play in. There’s no strict dress code here, but most visitors wear leather, underwear only, or go completely naked. Strong Construction has some of the longest operating hours of any cruise club in Gran Canaria, nightly from 10 pm to 6 am.
Noxon Club
If you’re after the hottest and nastiest time in Gran Canaria, Noxon Club on the second floor of the Yumbo Center has you covered. The venue covers 200 m2 and hosts the sexiest fetish parties on the island. Inside, you’ll find five slings, private cabins, a piss area, glory holes, big group activity beds, and an anal shower. There are theme nights every week, choose from watersports, dirty and gritty action, or unprotected encounters.. Noxon Club operates nightly from 9 pm until 2 am. Entry is €8, which includes one long drink or two beers.
Tom’s Cruising Bar
For cruising newbies, Tom’s Cruising Bar on floor two of the Yumbo Center may be your best bet. Unlike other cruising clubs, there are no themes or dress codes; it’s a fun, friendly, laid-back bar, where guys can also hook up. There are private cabins, glory holes, and slings. The venue gets very busy during the summer peak, and a wide range of locals and tourists hang out here. Tom’s Crusing Bar opens nightly from 8.30 pm until 4 am, entry is free, but you’re expected to buy at least one beer.
Cruise Bar
Cruise Bar is also on the second floor of the Yumbo Center and, since 1994, has been the premier hangout for bears and their admirers. At the entry is a large and well-stocked bar. Venture inside, and you’ll find multiple cabins, seemingly endless corridors, slings, a porn video room, labyrinths, glory holes, and two dark rooms. The vibe is extremely welcoming and friendly, and any newbies to the bear scene will love this venue. Cruise Bar is open nightly from 10 pm until 4 am.
Zoo Men’s Cruising Bar
Zoo Men’s Cruising bar is one of two venues located in the Barbados Apartment complex, only 400 m from the Yumbo Center. It covers two levels, and you’ll find dark rooms, glory holes, and large beds perfect for group encounters. There are themes most nights with naked nightson Sundays and Mondays, bareback Wednesdays, and the very popular bear’s night every Thursday. Zoo Men’s Cruising bar is open nightly from 10 pm until 4 am, and entry is €10, which includes one drink from the well-stocked bar. Your hosts Victor and Piter ensure you’ll have a fun night.
Reds Cruising Club
The other venue in the Barbados Apartment complex is Reds Cruising Club. Walk inside, put all your clothes into a sealed bag, and let it all hang out. The venue covers two floors, where you’ll find a bar and lounge/smoking area, private cabins with glory holes, a piss area, private beds, and group activity beds. The nights include fetish and sex in the dark. Reds Cruising Club is open nightly from 8 pm until 2.30 am, and entry is €10, which includes one drink.
Bar Hell Cruising Fetish Club
One kilometer north of the Yumbo Center at the Jardin del Sol Aparthotel, you’ll find Bar Hell Cruising Fetish Club. Unlike the other cruise clubs, this is more intimate with a dark room, private cabins, a sling, and glory holes. Bar Hell Crusing Fetish Club is open Tuesdays to Fridays from 10 pm until 2 am, there’s no entry fee, and drinks are €5.
TImE oFF (Romeo/Julio)
Another venue outside the Yumbo Center is TImE oFF (Romeo/Julio). It’s on the first floor of the Cita Shopping Center, 1 km south of Yumbo. This is an extreme hard-core fetish venue; if fisting is your thing, this is your place. Inside, you’ll find a bar offering a wide range of drinks. There are lockers, an anal douching shower, a sling room, and big beds. Gloves are provided, but lube isn’t. If you’re into hardcore porn, XXX videos are on display throughout the venue. This venue has a very strict dress code: leather, rubber, latex, jocks, or naked. You must also wear shoes, no flip-flops or sandals. TImE oFF (Romeo/Julio) is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 9 pm until 3 am.
Saunas
As there are so many cruise clubs in Gran Canaria, there only needs to be one sauna, and this one is located opposite a beach.
Sauna Portugal
Across the road from Las Canteras beach on the north east of the island, is Sauna Portugal. Many locals visit, as do tourists heading back to their rooms from the beach. It spans over two levels and features showers, a Finnish sauna and steam room, a labyrinth with glory holes, dark rooms, and cabins. There’s also a bar, and you can buy snack food. Sauna Portugal is open daily from 4 pm to 11 p,m but tends to be busiest from opening until 8 pm. Entry is €16, or €8 if you’re under 24 with ID. Wednesday is bargain day at €12.
Gay Clubs With Back Rooms
Two bars in Gran Canaria also have back rooms, so if you’re feeling frisky after a few drinks, head on back.
Mantrix
Mantrix is located in the top left-hand corner of the Yumbo Center on the 4th floor. It’s one of Gran Canaria’s most popular dance clubs with international DJs playing sets. The cruise area has a dark room and play cabins. Mantrix is a late-night venue operating from 2 am to 6 am nightly.
Mykonos
Mykonos is Gran Canaria’s largest and longest-operating gay club. It’s also on the 4th floor of the Yumbo Center and plays pop music primarily to the 20s to 30s crowd. Screens playing music videos are found throughout the club. There’s a dark room and private cabins for playtime. Mykonos operates from 11.30 pm to 3.30 am nightly and has 2-for-1 drink specials on Sundays to Thursdays.
Gay Resorts With Cruising Potential
Gran Canaria has a vast range of gay adult-only resorts, so you can imagine with all those guys together, throw in clothing-optional, and cruising is bound to happen. While most of this action is purely for guests staying at the hotel, a few of them offer day passes for visitors.
Axel Beach Maspalomas
Axel Beach Maspalomas is one of the island’s most popular gay resorts. Despite its promotion as a gay resort, it is hetero-friendly. Day passes, dressed up as ‘pool passes’, are available for non-guests. While ‘sexy, sun-drenched pool party’ is how the facilities are promoted, most of the cruising happens in a small area near the jacuzzi, steam room, and sauna. Axel Beach is also only a 20-minute walk from the Maspalomas dunes.
Vista Bonita Gay Only Resort
Vista Bonita is a resort exclusively for gay and lesbian travellers. It’s located halfway between the Yumbo Center and Maspalomas Beach. It’s adults-only and clothing-optional. While there isn’t a dedicated cruising area, the pool and the rooftop sauna are where most guys hang out. Day passes are available for visitors at €25.
Seven Hotel & Wellness
Seven Hotel & Wellness is in a quiet residential area close to the south of the island. It’s a gay men’s only resort with 24 rooms. While not clothing-optional, there’s a heated saltwater pool and bar, a jacuzzi and a sauna. Day passes to access the pool area are available for €20.
Gay Hotel Club Torso
Clothing-optional Gay Hotel Club Torso, located in Maspalomas, is well-known for its basement playroom. This intimate resort has 12 bungalows, it’s gay-men only and clothing optional. While guys cruise each other all day in the heated pool, all the action happens in the basement. Day passes aren’t offered at this resort, so the cruising options are for in-house guests only.
Atlantic Sun Beach
Atlantic Sun Beach is a gay-men only aprtment-style resort very close to the beach and the Cita Shopping Complex. It’s a clothing-optional/nudist resort, and the guys hang out around the pool, jacuzzi, and sun terrace. Day passes aren’t offered, so this resort is exclusively for in-house guests.
Villa Adler
Villa Adler is the most booked boutique gay hotel in Gran Canaria. It’s close to the beach and Yumbo Center. It’s a very intimate resort with only 8 bungalows, but it does have a clothing-optional pool area, for in-house guests only.
Bungalows Tenesoya
For budget-conscious travellers, Bungalows Tenesoya, 15 minutes’ walk from the Yumbo Center and 200m from the beach, has cruising potential for in-house guests as it’s gay men only and clothing optional at the pool area. The 2-bedroom bungalow sleeps four, so bring your closest friends.
Beaches and Malls
Some gay guys head to Gran Canaria purely to spend time at Maspalomas Beach, and it’s no wonder. Gran Canaria also has a unique place known as the Yumbo Center, where the concentration of gay venues exists.
Maspalomas Beach and the Infamous Sand Dunes
Every gay man who heads to Gran Canaria will have heard about the sand dunes at Maspalomas Beach on the island’s south. Crowned “the largest outdoor cruising area in the world,” it covers 400 hectares (1,000+ acres), and it’s a protected nature reserve. It’s a 24/7 cruising area and even has dedicated areas nicknamed “bushes,”
- Bush A & B: gets the younger crowds. (Access the dunes from the Riu Palace Hotel in Avenida de Tirajana and hike directly into the scrub areas.)
- Bush C: is frequented mostly by the more mature crowd
- Bush D: locals and those staying west side of Maspalomas
Once you get through the sand dunes, you arrive at Maspalomas Beach. The dedicated gay area is found at kiosk no 7. It’s a clothing-optional, nudist beach, the kiosk pumps out dance music, and has a cash-only bar for drinks and snacks, and sun loungers are available. In summer, this entire area gets crazy busy, and the Spanish guys have no problem flaunting what they have to offer.
There has been a rise in patrols in the dunes, and police have been handing out €150 fines on the spot. The concern is that going off the main pathways is causing erosion to the dunes. Some tourists have gone as far as carving giant love hearts with initials in the sand, which can almost be seen from space. The patrols aren’t specifically targeting people hooking up in the dunes, but those who are causing deliberate harm to the area. People hooking up are caught in the crossfire, so keep this in mind if you want to play in the dunes area.
Yumbo Center
The Yumbo Center is the home to most of the island’s gay bars and clubs. effectively making the entire center one giant cruising center. As you’d expect, the toilets in the center are a hive of activity, so don’t be surprised to see other guys trying to check out your junk as you use the facilities.
Is Cruising Legal in Gran Canaria?
While Spain is a progressive country, public sex is illegal, including in Gran Canaria. In the past, consensual encounters in the Maspalomas dunes were informally tolerated. Today, there are more patrols, and although police rarely intervene unless there are complaints or inappropriate behavior becomes an issue. It’s the destruction of the natural landscape that’s caused more than usual patrols.
The gay beach itself is perfectly legal for nude sunbathing and socializing – it’s the sexual activity that technically crosses legal lines, though enforcement is minimal in the dunes. The SOPVs in the Yumbo Center are perfectly legal and safe spaces if that’s of concern for you.
