Jameos del Agua

Jameos del Agua is a lava tube that an artist decided to finish. On the north-east coast of Lanzarote, the eruption of the Corona volcano left a tunnel of solidified lava about 6 km long, running from the mountain to the sea and continuing at least 1.5 km beneath the seabed, a submarine stretch known as the Tunnel of Atlantis. Where parts of the roof caved in, they left great open pits that islanders call jameos, a word inherited from the pre-Hispanic population of the Canaries. Three of them lie together in the section closest to the shore: Jameo Chico, Jameo Grande and Jameo de la Cazuela.

In the early 1960s the Lanzarote-born artist César Manrique began clearing the neglected site, and over the following fifteen years turned it into the first of his centres of art, culture and tourism. His idea was to change as little as possible and frame what the volcano had made. Visitors descend through Jameo Chico into the dim cave, where a still, clear lagoon of seawater lies under the rock; paths skirt it on a ledge before climbing into the open Jameo Grande. There Manrique set a pool and gardens against the black basalt, and at the far end of the tube built a concert auditorium inside the rock itself. The first areas opened in 1966 and the whole complex was completed in 1977; a volcano museum, the Casa de los Volcanes, followed later.

The lagoon has its own inhabitant, and it is the reason for the rule against throwing coins. On the dark rocks under the water live tiny blind squat lobsters, Munidopsis polymorpha, whitish crustaceans barely a centimetre long that are found nowhere else. They are sensitive to light, noise and corroding metal. Look closely and the specks on the lagoon floor turn out to be animals.

What makes the place special is the transition: from the hush of the lava cave and its glassy water to sunlight, white walls and turquoise, without any sense that a building has been inserted. The surrounding Corona volcano and its lava field are protected as a natural monument, and the Jameos themselves as a site of scientific interest since 1994. The neighbouring Cueva de los Verdes opens another section of the same tube.

Getting there

Jameos del Agua is on the coast road between Arrieta and Órzola in the municipality of Haría, about 17 km from the town of Teguise. César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport (ACE) is about 29 km away as the crow flies, further by road. Most visitors come by car.