Keeping abreast of the trend! New Canary Island website for cruise passengers
THE CANARY Islands are among the most popular winter sun destinations for British cruise passengers.
The Canary Islands are one of the most popular tourist destinations in winter
With an average winter temperature of 20C - 68F - it's warm enough to just sit on the beach, soaking up the sun, but not too hot to stop you exploring the islands.
Trade winds keep rainfall down to a minimum and prevent the islands from ever getting uncomfortably hot - even in summer when the average temperature is 24C or 75F.
More than two million cruise passengers sailed to the Canaries in 2015, double the number for 2005 and up 14.6 per cent on the previous year
Now the islands have created a website especially for cruise passengers called Islands Ahead, with port information for all seven islands and ideas for activities ranging from hiking through the Caldera de Taburiente National
Park on La Palma to see the volcano's crater to exploring the 16th century old town area of La Orotava on Tenerife.
The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous region in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,000 miles from Spain, and part of the EU.
More than two million cruise passengers sailed to the Canaries in 2015, double the number for 2005 and up 14.6 per cent on the previous year.
Useful information on the website includes advice on shopping: sales tax is only seven percent - much lower than the rest of the EU - and shopping centres are open from 10am to 10pm, although shops for locals usually close on Saturday afternoons and at lunchtime.
World's largest cruise ship takes to the ocean
Winds keep rainfall down to a minimum and prevent the islands from ever getting uncomfortably hot
The What To Do section has information on beaches (Las Teresitas on Tenerife and Las Canteras on Gran Canaria for example), golf courses - Buenavista on Tenerife and Holf Costa Teguise on a dormant volcano in Lanzarote, dolphin and whale spotting - off Tenerife, La Palma and Gran Canaria.
More than two million cruise passengers sailed to the Canaries in 2015
There is also information on nature areas, public foot paths and museums. And in the Useful Information section there are emergency numbers, advice on car hire, restaurants and events.
Autumn marks the high season for cruise passengers with the ports of La Luz, Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife receiving more than a million passengers in 2015.
Sales tax is only seven percent on the Canary islands
The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous region in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,000 miles from Spain
The other most popular ports were Arrecife (Lanzarote), with more than 433,000 cruise passengers, Santa Cruz de La Palma, with 206,000-plus visitors, Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura), which more than 133,000 visited, San Sebastian de La Gomera, attracting more than 76,000, and La Estaca (El Hierro), with 4,000 visitors docking at the port last year.
For more information go to http://pre.islasalavista.com/en/