Gran Canaria big game boats hold several billfish, tuna and shark records and big fish are caught and released every year. Most dock in Puerto Rico's marinas but there are boats at Pasito Blanco and Mogan.
Blue and white marlin, sharks, wahoo, baracuda, amberjacks and various tuna species are the main catches depending on the season.
Some big game boats go after bottom fish if the pelagics aren't around. Bream, grouper, amberjacks, rays, sharks and the odd pufferfish are common catches.
Shore fishing in Gran Canaria is still challenging unless you go after bass and sierra off the north coast. The south is largely sand and was heavily overfished. Baracuda, jacks, parrotfish, bream and combers are the main fish and there is good sport in targetting the big grey mullet. You can't fish inside any of the harbours.
Gran Canaria's reservoirs hold some of Europe's largest mirror and common carp along with black bass, and the odd escaped tropical catfish. For carp fishing in Gran Canaria we recommend the man who brought the sport to the island.
If there is one thing we hate it is visitors being tricked in Gran Canaria. In the past we've warned about overcharging at Gran Canaria chemists, and rip off electronics shops in resorts.
In this Tip Of The Day we return to the island's chemists or rather, to the island's fake chemists.
A chemist in Gran Canaria is called a Farmacia and always has a green cross sign. Farmacias are the only place tobuy medicine in Spain, even basics like paracetamol.
However, there is another kind of shop in Gran Canaria that looks and sounds like a chemist but doesn't sell medicine. This is the Parafarmacia and it also uses a green cross sign.
A parafarmacia is a herbal medicine shop that is not allowed to sell any normal medicine such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or antibiotics.
Instead, parafarmacias sell herbal alternatives to medicine but don't have to prove that they work and they can charge whatever they want.
We recently heard from a visitor to Gran Canaria who went into a parafarmacia and was charged 40 euros for a herbal alternative to Ibuprofen. It was only when they read the label that they realised what had happened.
To locate a genuine farmacia, see this website and search within your municipio (Puerto Rico is in Mogán, Playa del Inglés is in San Bartolomé de Tirajana). At weekends and on fiesta days many farmacias close but there is always one open, known as the farmacia de guardia, in each municipio.
Search for the nearest one to you with this tool.
Lex Says: To keep costs down, see this article for the way to ask for generic medicine rather than expensive branded alternatives.
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