El Charco de San Ginés, Arrecife

El Charco de San Ginés really is a lovely spot in Arrecife! El Charco translates to ‘the puddle’ and is situated on the front in Arrecife, between Calle Real and Puerto Naos. There is a car park on open ground to the side of El Charco with a children’s playground, the very popular restaurant Casa Ginory marks the entrance and no matter the time of day there are always people enjoying fresh fish platters or bocadillos de pescado or calamares here.

Casa Ginory Charco San Ginés 1

Around the corner and overlooking El Charco there is the Bar La Ribera and next door restaurante Leito de Proa, the first offers a chance to sit and enjoy a drink and the second local tapas.

Bar La Ribera y Leito de Proa Charco San Ginés 4

We walked in an anti clockwise direction around El Charco, here you can see the main shopping centre of Arrecife just behind the water.

Regata de Jolateros Jolatero, First Pass

Half way along this side of El Charco is the main area for any fiestas, the bar Casa del Miedo is set back and on our walk we saw a Regata de Jolateros taking place as part of the San Ginés fiesta.

Casa del Miedo Charco San Ginés 2

The far end of El Charco connects with the top end of Calle Real (León y Castillo), the main pedestrian shopping street in Arrecife.

Charco San Ginés 5 Cinema

There is a bridge over the water to continue around and the big building is the local cinema.

Charco San Ginés 5 Traditional building San Ginés

There are a mixture of modern apartments and traditional buildings surrounding El Charco, some are still in ruins.

Callejón Las casas de los Aguaresíos

There is a delightful place known as Las casas de los Aguaresíos tucked away just off El Charco San Ginés, the passage way Callejón cuts through to the (church) Iglesia San Ginés, which is only a stones throw from the La Recova market.

San Ginés  Charco San Ginés 7

Heading back to El Charco and we’re almost back to the beginning, you can see the water inlet, the small boats have to time their entrance so they can fit under this bridge, and there’s quite a current flowing.

Inlet El Charco Charco San Ginés 8

El Charco de San Ginés is really worth looking for on your visit into Arrecife.