Camel ride in the dunes of Maspalomas: what the 30 minutes really are

The guided camel ride in the dunes of Maspalomas costs €18 and lasts 30 minutes. With 5,146 reviews at 4.5 stars, it’s the second most reviewed offer on this site after the catamaran trip with dolphins. The booking page mentions dunes, a double saddle and Saharawi guides. What it leaves out is almost everything you’d want to know before booking.

Where the camel station is

The short description names neither operator nor address. The camel station in the dunes that we found operates as Camello Safari Dunas and lies on Calle Oceanía, near the Charca and the lighthouse — that is, at the western end of the dune area, not on the Playa del Inglés side. That your ticket applies exactly there is our own attribution. The binding meeting point is stated in your booking confirmation.

For the way there, the operator recommends a taxi. By bus you can reach the Faro de Maspalomas stop, served among others by lines 5, 30, 50 and 90. The operator doesn’t guarantee parking. The way back goes on foot past the Charca to the lighthouse and on to Meloneras, as the operator itself suggests. What there is to see there is covered in The south of Gran Canaria.

Riding on the flat, not over the ridges

The dunes have been under nature protection since 1987, and that shapes the route. The operator speaks of visitor paths through the protected area. The local news site El Sur Digital was more specific in 2022: the caravan follows a fixed, defined route of around two kilometres, and the animals don’t climb the dunes but walk on the flat.

So if you’re picturing a camel on a high sand ridge, that’s not what you get. You see the dunes from the saddle but don’t ride over them. For half an hour at walking pace that’s no drawback — you should just know it beforehand.

The station itself is controversial. According to a 2020 report by eldiario.es, the rides count as permissible under the management plan for the protected area, which Spain’s supreme court upheld in 2011, because they already existed before the plan — but the facility on site reportedly doesn’t meet the plan’s requirements. In 2022 the same paper reported that the coastal authority is reclaiming the site as public coastal land. How that turned out, we couldn’t establish. In May 2026, the rides were still taking place, according to press reports.

What happens in the half hour

The operator allows for 30 to 35 minutes and sends off a group roughly every half hour. Two people share one animal, and guides accompany the caravan. Anyone who doesn’t want to or can’t ride waits at reception, according to the operator, and meets the group on its return. That’s good to know for parents whose child refuses to get on at the last moment. If there are three of you, ask beforehand who rides with whom on which animal.

The operator says nothing about photos. A review on a resale portal from 2021 states that photos are taken along the way and can be bought for €5, and that staff will also take photos on your own phone on request. Whether that’s still the case today, you’ll see on site.

Children, weight, mobility

According to the operator’s price list, children aged 3 to 12 pay €13, and babies up to three years ride free with a parent. Whether that also applies to a ticket from the booking site is stated there; the short description says nothing about it. Whether a ride is suitable for your baby is something to work out with your paediatrician, not with us. More on this age is in Gran Canaria with a baby and Gran Canaria with a toddler.

As a usual upper limit, the operator names 100 kg per person, and the same figure appears on its reservation page. Individual resale portals give 110 kg. What counts is what’s stated on your booking page, and anyone close to the limit should ask before booking.

A Spanish resale portal writes that the ride isn’t suitable for people with limited mobility. We found nothing from the operator itself on this, so have it confirmed beforehand. In the case of pregnancy or back problems, that’s a question for your doctor.

Mornings only

By its own account the operator takes riders from 9.15 am to 2.15 pm; whoever arrives at 2.15 pm sets off last. The afternoons belong to the animals’ care and rest. Resale portals sometimes name other windows; one requires you to be there between 9 am and 10.30 am and rides in order of arrival. Which time applies to you is stated on your ticket.

There’s no shade in the dunes, and the sand gets hot around midday. The early slots are therefore the better ones, especially in summer. Bring water and something for your head, and ask the pharmacy what you need against the sun.

What it costs — and where it’s cheaper

For adults the price is the same: €18 on the booking site, €18 at the operator. The difference is with children. A family with two children between 3 and 12 pays €62 at the operator. If the booking site charges €18 per seat, that’s €72. We’re writing this even though we earn from the booking. On its own site, the operator takes a €6 deposit per adult, with the rest paid at reception.

Booking through a third party has one catch: changes and refunds, according to the operator, run through the reseller, not the station. What excursions cost a family over a whole holiday is worked out in Family holiday on Gran Canaria: what excursions cost.

Animal welfare

The operator calls its offer ethical and points to the afternoon rest. According to El Sur Digital, the station keeps around 150 animals that are used in rotation, and only males for the rides. Against that stand accusations: the animal rights party PACMA stated in 2019 that the animals worked from 9 am to 4 pm, tethered at 50 centimetres, with pierced nostrils and no chance to rest. The hours the operator states today are shorter. In May 2026, the Fundación Franz Weber called for a dialogue on converting the camel rides on Gran Canaria into an animal-free offering.

We could verify neither the praise nor the accusations. If you have an uneasy feeling about it, leave it and walk the dunes instead. Marked paths lead through the protected area; exactly what’s allowed is stated on the signs at the entrances.

The other camel offers

The camel ride at Camel Safari Park costs €20 and also lasts 30 minutes, but goes through an “oasis of a thousand palm trees”, and you can feed the animals and walk through a tropical garden. It rates 4.0 stars from 320 reviews. Where the park is located, this description doesn’t say. The camel ride safari with optional food and transport for €48 (three hours, 4.2 stars, 1,268 reviews) places a Camel Safari Park in the Fataga nature reserve, in the Valley of the Thousand Palms. That both refer to the same park is something we infer from the name and description. Fataga lies inland north of Maspalomas; with the journey there, it’s no longer a short programme, but you get palms instead of sand.

There are also three offers that combine a two-hour tour of Playa del Inglés by e-scooter or e-bike with a camel ride in the dunes, each for €89. Two of them explicitly include 30 minutes on a camel; the third calls the ride “optional” — whether it’s included in the price is something to clarify before booking. Subtract the €18 for the camel and you’re paying €71 for the guided tour.

If you’d rather be in the saddle yourself, there’s horse riding on the volcanic path: €38.02 for one hour on a horse, 4.6 stars from 2,433 reviews. Things get louder with the buggy and quad tours, and it’s up into the mountains with the tours to Roque Nublo. Everything together is listed under Things to do on Gran Canaria.

Who it’s not for

Anyone weighing over 100 kg. That’s the limit the operator names as standard. Anyone above it should ask before booking, not at the moment of mounting.

Anyone who wants to experience the big dunes. The ride stays on the flat. You get closer to the high ridges on foot.

Anyone who only has time in the afternoon. After 2.15 pm the operator takes nobody else.

For families with small children, though, the ride is one of the best short programmes in the south, precisely because it’s over after half an hour. A second one is the submarine at Puerto de Mogán, 40 minutes for €38. More on what works with children is in Gran Canaria with kids.