Puerto del Carmen (Pto. del Carmen) is the main tourist town on the island of Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain. It is part of the municipality of Tías. Most of Lanzarote's over 1 million visitors per year choose this town as their destination. As a result, almost all of the town's economy revolves around tourism.
It attracts tourists from all over Europe, particularly Ireland, the UK and Germany as well as from Scandinavia and Spain. The Avenida de las Playas, the main street/avenue in the town, extends some 7 km along the island's southern coast, with beaches on one side and many restaurants, bars, shops and other tourist attractions on the other. Apartments, villas and hotels cover a kilometre or so inland from the coastline. The quaint and peaceful old town includes the harbour and docks, the Puerto Tinosa. Here there are a smaller variety of restaurants and bars with views across the harbour and the sea to the volcanic mountains of Papagayo beyond to views of the next island of Fuerteventura.
Puerto del Carmen is host to a large number of dive centres and scuba diving is one of the most popular sports there with very favourable conditions. Water temperatures vary from 19 degrees in the winter to 23 degrees in the summer and visibility averages over 25 meters to 30 meters.
Puerto Del Carmen hosts a variety of shops which sell mainly tourist-oriented products. The new town hosts bars, restaurants and tourist shops. The old town has many restaurants with outdoor terraces that overlook the marina below and the distant volcanic peaks. The Biosfera Plaza is a newly constructed shopping plaza, which includes many international brands and has entertainment facilities. There are a handful of clubs in the open until 6am which are often popular with many younger tourists.
Coordinates: 28°55′22″N 13°38′58″W / 28.92278°N 13.64944°W