Gran Canaria Buggy Tour: What the Most-Reviewed Off-Road Ride Really Is
Updated October 1, 2026 · 8 min read
The short answer: anyone who wants to drive a buggy on Gran Canaria takes the Offroad Buggy Adventure through the Ravines — €65.25 per person, two hours, 4.8 stars from 3,575 reviews, making it by far the most-reviewed buggy ride on the island. It starts in El Tablero near Maspalomas; according to the booking page, only someone who is 18 and holds a car driving licence may drive, and children must be at least 1.35 m tall. Anyone without a driving licence takes the jeep tour through the valleys of the south instead, for €69, with the guide driving. And anyone staying in Puerto Rico or Mogán should plan their own way back — the bus only goes there, not back.
See availability and prices for the Offroad Buggy Adventure
Of the 17 listings under Buggy and quad tours, the “Offroad Buggy Adventure through the Ravines” has by far the most reviews: 3,575, at 4.8 stars. The runner-up, a jeep tour through the valleys of the south, has 1,412. The buggy tour costs €65.25 per person and lasts two hours. The short description names the Ayagaures area, but neither a starting point nor an operator.
The five rides compared
| Listing | Duration | From | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offroad Buggy Adventure through the Ravines | 2 hours | €65.25 | 4.8 (3,575) | the first choice if someone in the group has a car driving licence |
| Afternoon Buggy Tour, 1 Hour 45 Minutes | 2 hours | €62.55 | 3.9 (405) | the only cheaper ride, by €2.70 |
| Morning Buggy Tour, Long Route, 100% Off-Road | 3 hours | €73.93 | 3.7 (567) | anyone who wants more time off-road and will accept one star less |
| Off-Road Valleys & Villages Jeep Tour | 5 hours | €69 | 4.5 (1,412) | anyone without a driving licence or who doesn’t want to drive |
| Ryker Moto Tour to Fataga | 2.5 – 3 hours | €75 | 4.9 (119) | tarmac and curves instead of dust, but stricter licence rules |
Who is behind it
The booking page names Excursiones Canarias SL as the operator. In the guest reviews on the same page, though, Buggy Pirates comes up again and again, and the route and the rules match Buggy Pirates’ own website: the same viewpoint, the same minimum height, the same age limit for drivers. Whether Excursiones Canarias SL is the company behind Buggy Pirates or simply resells the tour is stated on neither site. Everything here that comes from Buggy Pirates’ own website is given under that caveat.
According to Buggy Pirates, the tour starts and ends at its own base in El Tablero, a village just north of Maspalomas. One reseller puts the distance to Maspalomas at around 5 km. From there, it’s uphill on tarmac to the Mirador de Pedro González, with a view over the Ayagaures valley and its reservoir, and then onto unpaved tracks. Buggy Pirates’ own schedule lists two off-road sections with a driver change in between, and gives the duration as 2 hours 15 minutes; the introduction on the same page says two and a half hours. The booking page states 2 to 2.5 hours.
The west only gets the outbound leg
Buggy Pirates picks up — and drops back off — in Bahía Feliz, San Agustín, Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas, Sonnenland and Meloneras. For Salobre, Arguineguín, Patalavaca, Puerto Rico, Amadores, Playa del Cura, Taurito and Mogán, it states explicitly “solo recogida (sin regreso)”: pickup only, no return. The booking page matches this. The return leg is included only to the areas named there; the ride back to your hotel is excluded everywhere else.
According to two resellers, you’re then dropped at the nearest bus station, or at a bus or taxi stop. Anyone staying in Puerto Rico or Mogán should budget for a bus or taxi back. One other listing has Puerto Rico in its title (€129 per person, 4.6 stars); whether it picks up and drops off there is something to check before booking.
Who can drive, who can ride, who can’t
According to the booking page, only someone at least 18 years old with a valid car driving licence may drive. Minors never drive, even with a licence. One licence per buggy is enough; if the passenger also has one, you can swap. Closed shoes are compulsory — sandals and flip-flops are explicitly not allowed.
Children must be at least 1.35 m tall. The booking page states no age; two resellers additionally give “7 years”. According to the booking page, the tour isn’t suitable for pregnant women or people with back problems. If you’re not sure whether that applies to you, ask your doctor beforehand.
The booking page doesn’t state which vehicle it provides. With the resellers, the standard is a buggy for one or two people; Love Gran Canaria and Coconut Trips also sell buggies for three or four people, at €225 to €260 per vehicle. Buggy Pirates itself runs a “Family Buggy” that takes passengers from age 4. Anyone wanting to fit three into one vehicle, or bringing a smaller child, should clarify this directly with the operator.
What it costs
For two people, the booking page charges €130.50. The resellers on the ground charge per buggy: YesCanary €130 for two and €115 alone; Coconut Trips and Love Gran Canaria €150 for two and €120 alone. For two people, then, the booking page is only 50 cents dearer than the least expensive of these resellers. Anyone driving alone should ask whether the €65.25 gets them their own buggy or a seat next to a stranger.
According to the booking page, the price includes pickup and return in the areas named, insurance, protective goggles and the guide. Not included are dust scarves, plus film and photos, both sold by the operator in its own shop. Two reviews on the booking page mention €35 for film and photos together. We found no mention anywhere of whether an excess applies if the buggy is damaged. That’s a question to ask before booking.
On cancellation, the booking page is more generous than the resellers: free up to 24 hours in advance. OK Gran Canaria asks for 36 hours, Love Gran Canaria for 48 — though it explicitly adds that a cancellation due to bad weather is refunded in full.
How much of it is actually off-road
The booking page doesn’t give a proportion. OK Gran Canaria, which names Buggy Pirates as the operator, markets the tour as “50% off-road”. So if you’re expecting two hours of terrain, you’re booking the wrong thing. If you want a ride through the countryside behind Maspalomas with genuine gravel tracks, you’re in the right place. The dust, in any case, is real: everything you’re wearing needs a wash afterwards, and the scarf the operator sells is also recommended by guests in the reviews.
The buggy tours right behind it
Next in the ranking by review count come three buggy tours that, according to their booking pages, come from the operator Multiactivity and start in Maspalomas. They cost €62.55 (3.9 stars, 405 reviews), €69.50 (3.7 stars, 583) and €73.93 (3.7 stars, 567). Only one of them is cheaper, by €2.70. Two carry “100% Off-Road” in the title. For the €69.50 listing, though, the short description says “100% road” — worth clarifying before you book.
Roughly one star lower, at several hundred reviews each, is a gap worth knowing about. We can’t say what’s behind it; read the reviews yourself. Even so, there’s a solid reason for families to look here: according to Multiactivity’s booking pages, children can ride from about a metre tall, roughly four to five years old, and drivers need at least a year of driving experience. Whether that still holds is stated on the respective booking page.
See availability and prices for the €62.55 afternoon tour
Three four-seaters carry “Family” in the title: €79.50 and €85.05, each at 3.9 stars, and €175.77 at 3.3 stars — though with only 10 reviews, all per person. On top of that, there’s a four-seater from Maspalomas at €150 per group of up to two people, at 4.3 stars. What that means for younger children is covered in Gran Canaria with kids and Gran Canaria with a toddler.
The alternatives, depending on what you want
Without a driving licence, the jeep tour through the valleys and villages of the south is the better fit: €69, five hours, 4.5 stars, with a view of Roque Nublo, a coffee stop in Tirajana and a drive through the Valley of a Thousand Palms. According to an older version of its booking page, the guide drives there, not you. The premium safari in an off-road vehicle costs €64 for six hours at 4.0 stars, and stops at an aloe vera farm. Anyone who really wants to see the mountains will find full-day mountain tours to Roque Nublo.
See availability and prices for the jeep tour
The Can-Am Ryker is a three-wheeled road motorcycle. The Ryker tour from Maspalomas to Fataga costs €75 per person at 4.9 stars; the second costs €150 per group of up to two people at 5.0 stars. Licence rules can be stricter here: for its own Ryker tour, Buggy Pirates requires drivers to be at least 24, with four years on a category B licence. What applies to these two is stated on the booking page.
One listing has “Las Palmas” in the title (€120 per person, 4.4 stars), yet its short description talks about the mountains in the south. Las Palmas is also the name of the province, so whether it actually picks up in the capital is something to ask beforehand. Las Palmas doesn’t appear on Buggy Pirates’ own pickup list. Anyone who’d rather have their speed on the water should look at jet-skiing and parasailing. All the listings on this page sit under Things to do on Gran Canaria.
Who it isn’t for
Skip it if you’re pregnant or have back problems, if nobody in the group holds a car driving licence, or if a child under 1.35 m wants to come along. From Puerto Rico or Mogán, it’s only worth it if the return trip is sorted, and anyone mainly after terrain gets roughly half of what they’re hoping for.
With a teenager over 1.35 m, the tour makes a good half-day out. What a week of excursions costs a family overall is covered in Family holiday on Gran Canaria: what excursions cost. Which mountains and villages lie behind Ayagaures is shown in What to see on Gran Canaria, and the coast in front of them in The South of Gran Canaria.
Our recommendation
For most people: the Offroad Buggy Adventure through the Ravines for €65.25 per person. 4.8 stars from 3,575 reviews is roughly one star more than the three tours right behind it, and for two people the booking page, at €130.50, is only 50 cents above the cheapest reseller on the ground. You can cancel free of charge up to 24 hours in advance.
On a tight budget: The €62.55 afternoon tour is the only cheaper one — €2.70 less, but 3.9 stars instead of 4.8. That €2.70 isn’t worth the difference; if the budget is really tight, read the reviews first.
Without a driving licence or with younger children: the jeep tour through the valleys and villages of the south for €69, five hours, 4.5 stars from 1,412 reviews. The guide drives, you watch. Five hours make it half a holiday day instead of two hours.
If none of these fit: Anyone who is pregnant or has back problems should skip all the buggy rides — the operator says so itself. For a child under 1.35 m, the most-reviewed tour is off-limits; that leaves the Multiactivity rides with their one star less, or the jeep. And anyone expecting two hours of pure terrain is booking the wrong thing here: one reseller markets the same tour as “50% off-road”.
