On Lanzarote's west coast, less than ten minutes' drive apart, sit two stops that sum up what the volcano did to this island: Los Hervideros, where the Atlantic pushes in under the lava and bursts back out through holes in the cliff, and El Golfo, with its Charco de los Clicos — the green lagoon set inside a crater split open by the sea. Both are free, and one morning covers them easily.
During the Timanfaya eruptions of 1730-1736, lava flows ran all the way down to the sea along this corner of the island. When the molten rock met the water it chilled solid on the outside while it kept flowing inside: what was left is a hollow cliff, riddled with tunnels, caves and arches that the ocean still surges into today.
When a big wave arrives, the water is squeezed inside those tunnels and shoots back out through the cracks with a boom and a cloud of spray. Hence the name: the sea looks like it's boiling against the rock.
A short circuit of paths and viewpoints carved into the lava itself runs over the flow, with balconies leaning out directly above the blowholes. It's a loop walk from the car park; there's no ticket office, no opening hours and no guide, and fifteen to twenty minutes is plenty.
What makes or breaks the visit is the sea: the show depends on the swell. With a decent groundswell the waves explode several metres above the viewpoints; on a flat day you get a beautiful landscape but little drama. And stay on the paths — the rock is hollow underneath.
A few minutes north along the same road is El Golfo, a fishing village of white houses and fish restaurants. What almost everyone comes to see sits on the edge of the village, at its southern end: the Charco de los Clicos, also known as the Green Lagoon.
It's what remains of a volcanic cone the sea ate in half: an amphitheatre of ash and lava layers, a black sand beach at its foot and, between the two, a semicircular lagoon of an impossible green. It isn't cut off from the ocean — seawater seeps in underground — so it is salt water, only far saltier and completely still.
So why green? Olivine, the olive-green mineral that fills the basalt of this crater (you'll spot green grains even in the black sand), combined with the concentration of algae living in that hypersaline, stagnant water.
No. Access to the lagoon and the beach is closed and swimming is banned: the crater wall crumbles, and the lagoon is a fragile protected site. You look at it from the viewpoint above, a short flat path from the car park south of the village, and from up there you see the whole thing head-on — better than from below. The olivine stays put too.
Both sit on the LZ-703, the southwest coast road linking Yaiza, El Golfo, Los Hervideros and the Janubio salt pans, and both have parking. With a car it's easy; without one, public transport in this corner of the island is very thin, so the practical alternative is a tour that already includes them.
The most direct is the full-day trip to Timanfaya, Jameos del Agua and El Golfo: 9-10 hours for €75 per adult, with skip-the-line entry to Timanfaya, a stop at El Golfo and its Green Lagoon, César Manrique's Jameos del Agua, a live guide in five languages and pickup included.
If you'd rather squeeze the day dry, the best of Lanzarote in one day packs Timanfaya, Cueva de los Verdes, Jameos del Agua, Haría and a La Geria wine tasting into 9 hours, plus the Green Lagoon: €85 per adult and €50 per child, with a Spanish- and English-speaking guide and hotel pickup.
Together they add up to little more than an hour, so they work better as a complement than as a full day out. The classic running order:
If you already have a car and only need Timanfaya sorted, the half-day national park tour runs 6 hours for €59 per adult: the Ruta de los Volcanes, the geothermal demonstrations at Islote de Hilario and a stop in La Geria, with pickup from Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen, Costa Teguise, Arrecife and Puerto Calero.
Can you swim in the Charco de los Clicos? No. Swimming is banned and access to the lagoon and the beach is closed, both because of rockfall risk and to protect the site. You view it from the clifftop viewpoint.
Why is the lagoon at El Golfo green? Because of olivine, the green mineral in the crater's basalt, and the algae that thrive in that hypersaline, stagnant water.
How long do you need at Los Hervideros? Fifteen to thirty minutes: the viewpoint circuit is short and circular. Add El Golfo and it's little over an hour for both.
Planning more days on the island? Find out how to visit Timanfaya, the caves of Jameos del Agua and Cueva de los Verdes and all our things to do in Lanzarote.
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