If you read nothing else
- A 9-hour day from US$102[1] linking Timanfaya, Cueva de los Verdes and Jameos del Agua, with pickup included and free cancellation up to 24 hours out.
- The listed duration is 9 hours[1], so a port day needs room for it; check the starting time for your date before you commit.
- Stops run in order from Timanfaya National Park to Cueva de los Verdes and then Jameos del Agua, with 61 pickup points and 61 drop-off points listed.[1]
- A live guide in English, French, German or Spanish leads the day, and the tour skips the ticket line at the sites it visits.[1]
- Two other listings are aimed at cruise passengers: from US$57[2] and from US$70[3], and both have shorter listed durations than the full-day tour.
- Top choice Timanfaya, Jameos & Cuevas from US$102 Duration9 hours[1]Guide languagesEnglish, French, German, Spanish[1]Rating4.47 from 2,662 reviews[1]Free cancellationUp to 24 hours in advance[1] Check availability
- Timanfaya & Green Lagoon from US$57 Duration2.5 - 5 hours[2]Guide languagesEnglish, German, Spanish[2]Rating4.58 from 2,154 reviews[2]Free cancellationUp to 24 hours in advance[2] See this tour
- Timanfaya Park Tour from US$68 Duration6 hours[4]Guide languagesEnglish, Spanish[4]Rating4.40 from 885 reviews[4]Free cancellationUp to 24 hours in advance[4] See this tour
Tickets for independent entry (without a guided tour) can only be purchased online (they are not available at the ticket office) and for a specific time slot on the official website of the Lanzarote Centres for Art, Culture and Tourism (CACT).
Is this day right for your port call?
Things to check
Timanfaya National Park from the cruise port
Lanzarote is a small island, and the run from the Lanzarote cruise port to Timanfaya National Park crosses it from east to west, past the black lava fields of the south. The tour listed here is the long version: a 9-hour day[1] that links Timanfaya National Park with Cueva de los Verdes and Jameos del Agua, in that order, with pickup included.[1] For a port call that matters, because you see the lava fields and both of the big cave sites on one coach instead of trying to stitch them together yourself. The listing shows 61 pickup location options and 61 drop-off locations, so there is a good chance one of them suits your berth.[1]
The park itself is worth the crossing. Timanfaya covers about 51 square kilometers (20 square miles)[6] and was given national park status by a decree of August 9, 1974, published in the Official State Gazette on September 17, 1974.[7] At Islote de Hilario, surface temperatures reach around 250 ºC, and more than 600 ºC at 13 m deep.[8] Guides show that heat to visitors on arrival, and the Route of the Volcanoes runs through the lava on adapted coaches.[5] Note also that tickets for independent entry to Montañas del Fuego can only be bought online and for a specific time slot, and the standard adult ticket costs 30.00 EUR.[9][10]
Meeting the coach after your ship docks
Pickup is included on this tour, and the details for your own point are shown when you check availability.[1] The listing shows 61 pickup location options across the island, so you can see which one suits the port area. When you book, choose the point that works for you and be outside a few minutes early: a coach working a pickup loop cannot wait long at each stop. The live guide speaks English, French, German or Spanish.[1]
Two booking terms are worth knowing before you commit. Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, and you can reserve now and pay later.[1] That leaves room to change your mind if your ship's call times shift. For a sense of scale, Puerto del Carmen and Timanfaya National Park are about 22 km apart directly, with a road distance of about 23.5 km.[11] If you are weighing up travelling under your own steam, Line 60 passes through Yaiza on its route between Arrecife and Playa Blanca.[12]
Lava fields and cool cave pools fill a single coach day in southern Lanzarote.
The day in sequence, stop by stop
The listed stops run in this order: Timanfaya National Park, then Cueva de los Verdes, then Jameos del Agua, before the coach heads back to the drop-off points.[1] The whole day is listed as 9 hours, and the tour skips the ticket line at the sites it visits, which saves queueing at the busiest moments.[1] The exact shape of your day depends on the start time you are given, so treat the order as the fixed part and the clock as the flexible one.
The caves are lava tubes on the north-east coast, turned into gardens, pools and a small auditorium at Jameos del Agua, where the water is clear and the rock glows under the lights. If you have another day ashore, the Visitor Centre at Mancha Blanca gives free access to its exhibition and audiovisual programme[13] and is open Monday to Sunday from 9:00 to 16:00.[14] Near the park, a camel ride at the camel station lasts approximately 20 minutes.[15] El Diablo, the restaurant in the park, cooks meat and vegetables on a grill over an open cavity in the rock, using natural heat from the subsoil, where temperatures exceed 600 °C just 15 meters below the surface.[16]
Getting back to your ship in time
The figure that decides everything for a cruise passenger is the listed duration: 9 hours, with starting times shown when you check availability.[1] Add your own buffer between the drop-off point and the gangway, then compare the total with the time your ship is alongside. If your call is short, a full-day coach is a stretch. If your ship is in port for the whole day, the arithmetic is easier, and the fact that pickup and drop-off are part of the tour means you are not arranging transfers on top of it.
If the timing looks tight, two shorter listings are built around cruise passengers. The Arrecife departure to Timanfaya and the Green Lagoon starts from US$57, is listed at 2.5 - 5 hours and is rated 4.58 from 2,154 reviews, with stops at Timanfaya National Park, the Green Lagoon, Casa Museo y Monumento al Campesino and La Geria.[2] The morning Timanfaya and El Golfo tour starts from US$70, is listed at 4.5 hours and is rated 4.59 from 1,067 reviews.[3] Both leave your afternoon freer than the big combined day does.
from US$102
A 9-hour day linking Timanfaya, Jameos del Agua and Cueva de los Verdes, with pickup included and free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.[1]
When the coach runs behind schedule
A coach day that strings together three sites and a big pickup loop can lose time to traffic, weather or a slow group, so build in your own margin rather than cutting it fine. Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, which covers a change of plan well before the day, and the reserve now, pay later option leaves your money where it is while you decide.[1] On the day itself, ask the guide at the first stop roughly when you will be dropped back, and keep the ship's port agent number in your phone.
The return leg is shared, and the listing shows 61 drop-off locations.[1] If your ship sails early in the evening, tell the guide when you board which ship you are on and ask which stop is yours, so you know when to be back on the coach after the last site. Keep a little cash and a charged phone with you rather than in a bag that stays on the bus, and note where the coach parks at each stop. A taxi from the southern resorts back to the port is a fallback if the day stretches, though you hope never to need it.
What to bring and what to leave on board
Lava fields are sharp and uneven underfoot, so closed shoes with grip beat sandals, and the wind on the exposed parts of the park can be strong even when the coast is calm. Bring water, sun cream and a hat: the ground at Timanfaya is hot, with surface temperatures around 250 ºC at Islote de Hilario and more than 600 ºC at 13 m deep.[8] A light layer helps in the caves, which stay cool and damp, and a small day bag is easier than anything you have to carry in your hands. There is no need to bring your suitcase: this is a day tour with a coach full of people.
Cameras are the thing most people forget to prepare, because the light on the lava is bright and the caves are dark. If you shoot on a phone, learn where the night mode sits before you go. Leave passports, spare cards and most of your cash in the ship's safe, and carry only what you need for the day. The park is protected, so stay on the marked routes and viewpoints, keep to the paths in the caves, and leave the rocks where they are. A scarf or buff is useful against dust when the wind gets up.
Booking direct or through your cruise line
Cruise lines sell shore excursions that cover the same corner of Lanzarote under their own names, and the choice usually comes down to what is included and how the terms are set. Booking the listing directly puts those terms in front of you: the price, the duration, the guide languages, the pickup and drop-off arrangements, the cancellation window and the reviews, all before you pay.[1] You can see that the day is listed at 9 hours, that pickup is included and that free cancellation applies up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.[1]
The reviews are the other useful signal. The full-day tour is rated 4.47 from 2,662 reviews, with breakdown scores of 4.5 for the guide, 4.6 for transportation and 4.4 for value for money.[1] Read a few recent ones for the pickup experience at your end of the island, and check whether your date shows an early enough start to fit your ship. Then decide: the ship's version may suit you if you would rather keep everything in one booking, while booking direct shows you the terms in advance.
How long each tour runs
From-prices for a port day in the volcanic south
US dollar from-prices of the GetYourGuide listings above.[1][17][18][19] Child prices are not listed for these tours.
Booking timeline for a port day
Fitting it round your ship
Check your port times
Note your ship's arrival and all-aboard times, then look at the start times shown for your date.
Choose your pickup point
Pickup is included and the listing shows 61 pickup options, so choose the one that suits your berth.[1]
Book with a buffer
Leave a clear gap between your expected drop-off and all aboard, and keep the port agent number handy.
Pack for the terrain
Closed shoes, water, sun cream, a light layer for the caves and a charged phone.
Confirm on the coach
Tell the guide which ship you are on and ask when you will be dropped back at your point.
See start times and reserve a place on the coach
from US$103Reserve now & pay later
